Romy Etude 51
by jpraner
Summary: Raven plots to overthrow Nur and is happy to use everyone around her as a chess piece, including her daughter. Remy and Anna begin a tenuous relationship, but their path leads them through personal turmoil. Rora flirts with a tornado.
1. Chapter 1

Continuation of Romy Etude 5. If you have already read Etude 5 then you can skip to chapter 2.

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Rora's last text had reassured him at the time.

"Bailed out. Going home."

After that he had destroyed his phone as promised. But in the intervening weeks he wished he had asked more. He wondered about Anna…how she had fallen apart that last day. Had she been put back together?

He didn't know what he would find but he was going to Jura, or Phi Nguyen was going at any rate. He printed the visa and ticket off at the kiosk before walking, walking, walking to the distant terminal where all the little puddle jumpers and personal shuttles were docked. The ship was kind that gets loud and hot during exit and reentry and then fucking cold for the duration. He steeled himself for an uncomfortable trip.

Vibration from the ventilation system rattled the inside of the shuttle. People lined the interior of the hull on seats made of cargo netting, so tight their knees touched across the width of the fuselage. Passengers held duffle bags and babies on their laps. The heat of bodies grew uncomfortable and the sound of quiet conversations punctuated by children's cries filled his ears. He knew Jura was small, a backwater where wheat, oats, corn, rice, and cotton were collected into great silos before being shipped out to more populated planets, but having travelled there only on Anna's ship he had not realized the sorts of accommodation he should expect. When all of the passengers were aboard a pallet of live chickens was loaded behind them. He rolled his eyes and leaned his head back on the netting.

Madripoor had been, and still was, a good idea he decided; a refuge, a retreat…a place to be at ease and get his bearings…and it felt good to have an established identity and an apartment just in case, but It also felt good to be on the move again, even with such accommodations. The impulse to wander had perhaps been satisfied when he traveled with Anna and Kurt, or suppressed by the pleasantness of companionship and the fear of Victor, which still lingered at the back of his mind.

She had it right when she called him a deserter. He didn't like the word but it was undeniable, and he had to admit to himself that he felt some shame. He tried to reason himself out of it. The work had been too brutal, too mindless, too violent. They had done things that were…wrong. And still he felt deficient for leaving. Not good enough. Not strong enough to do what needed to be done, and hadn't he been told it was all "necessary", and he had believed it until he was there, wiring the explosives, pushing the buttons, collapsing the underground tunnels filed with 'Morlocks', people too poor to live anywhere else. All his talk of right and wrong seemed like cowardice, a cover for him to flee under. Is it cowardice to refuse to kill children? Is it cowardice to refuse to kill any more children?

Traveling to another planet to chase a girl suddenly seemed stupid, petty.

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The cabinet members filtered in one by one. Men of old or middling age and their attendants, the various experts Nur deemed valuable for running his government. There were 14 of them in all and each had their own entourage of analysts, advisors, and secretaries filling the room to its stifling brim. She was among the handful who advised Buckman on issues pertaining to commerce and certain sectors of Industrial logistics and she was slated for a promotion, on the wings of an old rivalry and on the generous patronage of Oyama Heavy Industries and Wagner's KAS. It would not surprise her in fact if Nur was folding in the fledgling, but growing, security firm as a coup-proofing measure.

At the 12th hour everyone stood and Nur entered. He towered above normal men and Raven sometimes wondered at how such a body made for war also housed a mind made for manipulation, subjugation, and tireless, methodical bureaucracy. She was admittedly jealous.

He menaced over his audience for a moment.

"Be seated." He orated at last, a high priest presiding over the rituals of formality. The room filled with the momentary shuffle of sitting bodies and was silent again. At length he too sat and began the meeting.

"As you may have noticed Minister Song is not present today. He passed away this week and will be greatly missed." A moment of silence was observed. "In his place many of you have recommended Ms. Darkholm." His words rolled out like thunder and she couldn't help but feel humbled. He graced her with his glance and indicated that she should stand. She obeyed with her hands clasped crisply before her. "Ms Darkholm has provided invaluable analysis to inform the decisions made by this office and those below it and she is herself expert in administration, finance, agricultural policy, and logistics. She has, since the untimely death of the governor, overseen the entire city and prefecture of Jura, responsible for producing 39% of the Union's food crops. Today Ms. Darkholm…" His eyes rested on her again and prepared to utter the official words "I elevate you to the position of Minister of Agriculture with all of the accompanying duties and privileges. As a servant of the Union we trust that you shall execute the duties of your office with diligence and loyalty." Raven cocked her head and half bowed in an improvised but ultimately graceful show of respect. Nur stretched out his arm and indicated the vacant seat at the long Maplewood table. Applause went up all around as she swept past in her midnight silks, past Buckman, past Shaw, past Essex, to the empty spot vacated by the recently deceased pharmaceutical mogul. Much like his granddaughter, she suspected he had been killed by the Minister of Medicine…but she would never know. She glanced at Essex as she sat. He tilted his head to return her gaze and he still clapped, but his half smile and lazily lidded eyes spoke the truth of his estimation of her. She stared back at him dully. He would be a handsome man were he not a psychopath.

"Congratulations Raven. A long deserved promotion." He whispered to her in the dying clatter of applause. It rankled her that he spoke to her, her first name even, with his unnaturally sweet voice, that he condescended to praise her at all. She was mostly successful in suppressing her sneer as she nodded to him. He laughed a derisive, all knowing laugh, and leaned back in his seat.

The applause subsided and Nur continued, gazing into his leather portfolio.

"What is the consensus on the worlds in the 6th Quadrant. These have been much on my mind of late."

Raven looked down and enjoyed the play of gold boteh on the deep blue of her Sari. She would not speak on matters so soon after her appointment. She listened to the arguments of the cabinet without looking up, as she knew each voice by heart.

"I would not destroy such a resource for no reason whatsoever, but it cannot become common knowledge after having been so long kept secret."

"It is ridiculous to even consider sparing these worlds for their "resources". Maintaining the demographics of the Union does not require any more resources. Asteroids can be mined. Food is well managed as it is. Earth is under remediation"

"Laughable. The 'remediation' you speak of will take centuries even if it is fully funded…which it isn't may I remind you"

"What of science? What of medicine? What undiscovered compounds are locked up in the flora and fauna of these worlds."

"Only one is currently habitable. The costs of terraforming them are too great."

"The cost is only an excuse. People are overcrowded and Earth is a cesspool. They are poor. They would do anything for a place to expand to."

"Frankly I don't understand the rush to determine the fate of these planets. The space is restricted…no one knows anything of them."

"That is naïve."

"What sort of managed expansion could we allow?"

"None! We have economic equilibrium and we _must_ strive to protect it."

She lowered her head further to hide her smile. _One mans "economic equilibrium" is another man's status quo._

Nur spoke again, demanding the thing that Raven was determined to avoid. "What is your opinion on this Darkholm."

She swallowed and straightened her shoulders. Of course expansion would destabilize the Union…it was the only chance she could see on the horizon to truly shake up the oligarchy…but she couldn't say that. That was not a part of the script meant for them.

"It will undoubtedly be difficult to maintain…"equilibrium"…as Advisor Buckman alluded to earlier. However, it is easier to destroy a planet than to re-create it should we decide it is valuable. If there is any reservation whatsoever we should delay liquidation."

Essex nodded as did a few others, but she could see Buckman staring her down across the table. Under normal circumstances she would have been nervous, but in a few more months she would have nothing to worry about from him either.

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When he was living on the Rogue he would sometimes climb the stairs to the cockpit and sit next to Anna if Rora was not already there. She would take off her red headphones and give him a little nod of acknowledgment.

"Isn't this thing on auto pilot? Why you gotta sit in the cockpit all day long? Come back and play some poker wit' us." Inviting her to activities had about a 50% success rate. Enough to keep him asking in any case.

She smiled. "It's a good habit to stay up here and watch in case there's anything weird in the flight path…like an asteroid or something."

"You're goin' like…a thousand miles a second. How you gonna avoid an asteroid. Tell me you've ever had to do that."

"I have."

"Bullshit."

"No joke…it was on some elliptical orbit and it was coming right at me. The sensors went off and the ship slowed down…but it just kept coming. It was easy enough to maneuver out of its path but it was so weird it took me a second to realize what was goin' on."

"You're a very responsible pilot den because I'd be dead." It was a peace keeping comment. He suspected that she just wanted an excuse to decline for whatever reason.

Even so…she laughed. She looked at him. She smiled. A genuine and beguiling smile utterly devoid of pretense.

 _Don't smile at me like dat p'tit. You wouldn't smile if you knew 'bout me._

Still, he couldn't help but smile back. It was in such moments that he wondered what she truly wanted from him, because she seemed more than friendly but less than flirtatious. She declined his invitation and yet gave all the indications of one who wanted his company. There was a cautious affection in all of her conversations with him, as though she wanted them to be more than just strangers, more than professionals, but how much more wasn't clear. Only at the hotel, after he forced the issue, did he know for certain that she wanted him, and that knowledge had taken root in his mind until months later he was still thinking about it.

He was still thinking about it when the shuttle began its descent, old school, swept wing, a bumpy jostle and bounce down the runway. It finally taxied to its parking spot the cargo ramp descended and the livestock slid off the runners onto a forklift. There were a few men dressed like administrators and he worried that his identity might have been compromised, but they were merely spouses.

He cursed himself for his excessive rumination as he carried his duffle bag across the tiny airfield, as he sat at the airport bar, as he ordered a drink. He cursed himself for having acted impetuously and for now being here, in a strange place with no place to stay for the night…again. This sort of obsession was rare for him. Only one other had inspired such foolishness… But no, this Anna was not like Belle…this Anna was in his mind. He wanted her merely because she was out of sight, mysterious to him, a creature part memory and part imagination. He merely needed to touch her to banish it. To see her again. To hear her again.

A few drinks at the bar and the bartender had given him the address of a hostel for migrant farm workers. Hotels were not really a thing in this part of Jura, but hostels were not really his style either.

He left, warmed by the liquor, and made his way to the hangars, the part of the airfield where small freighters and local craft were parked. The Pegasus, The Emerald Dawn, The London Blonde, The "Something in Korean", the Legacy…on and on they went for a mile he estimated. He sauntered lazily past the Queen Rania, then stopped, lifted his hand to shield his eyes from the slanting sunlight and peered down the long row of ships. He didn't want to walk all the way to the end of the flight line, but he had made it this far. Maybe this was a sign that he shouldn't have come. He sat down under the hull of the Queen Rania and took out a little pocket flask that he'd lifted recently.

 _Maybe she's on a delivery._ He thought a little disappointed…but if she was maybe it was a kind of reprieve because what was he really going to say to her anyway?

He pressed his palms into his eyes and took out a cigarette, leaned back onto his duffle bag until he was comfortably reclined, and looked at the sky.

 _Dis' nice._ He allowed himself to relax, to become distracted. The weather was pleasant and the sunset colors were beautiful projected onto the white mares' tails. He took another drag of his cigarette and didn't to think. The sky deepened and sunset passed into twilight as his cigarette burned down. He could hear rumbling from a long way off, too gentle to be a ship and he turned his head to look for the source. It was a fuel truck pulling up to one of the ships he had passed. A worker with a bright yellow vest hopped down and started uncoiling a heavy hose with a lamprey like nozzle. Remy hopped up and waved. "Hey." He shouted as he jogged over. The man raised his head and looked at him a little annoyed. "Hey, you know a ship called Rogue?" He called out from about fifty paces.

The man nodded. "Maintenance Hanger." He yelled and pointed across the tarmac. "Right there."

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He found himself ascending the ramp quietly, carefully, he wasn't sure why. When he was almost at the joint of the ramp he peered into the bay and saw no one, heard no one. Then there was the faintest humming coming from the viewing lounge overhead.

"Ello?" He shouted into the echoing bay. The quick clatter of footsteps followed at Anna ran around the railings and peered down. Shock crossed her face and a little smile.

"Well I'll be damned Cajun. Rora said you wandered off into the night. Ah didn't think I'd see you again.

Her face was bright and confident. It put him at ease, half expecting to find the agitated mess he left behind.

"Heh…Dis Cajun full o' surprises."

"Come up here. What are you doing in town?"

It felt like a warm welcome. It made him happy.

They settled onto the couch in the viewing lounge and he pulled the flask out of his bag. He offered her a little and was surprised when she took it from him. She tilted her head back and swallowed twice, then smiled wryly as she handed it back to him. "I always expect it to be sweet and it never is."

"Chere if you want sweet liquor I can get you some." He took a long swig himself and put the cap back on. Already he felt the beginnings of a buzz. A pleasant heaviness in his muscles. They had fallen back into a friendly banter almost immediately, like he'd never left and it was almost a little weird given the circumstances they parted under. He didn't want to bring it up. It might be too heavy for what he was here for.

 _And what are you here for homme?_

He didn't even know. He'd already refused her once…nothing had changed. He knew that. She knew that.

"So why're you in Jura?" She asked, catching him off balance by pulling the thoughts from his mind.

"I got an interview at de seed factory." He lied.

She laughed "The Ag complex? Are you a geneticist or somethin'?" She asked with gentle sarcasm. "What kinda work are you gonna do for them?"

"Security stuff." He said vaguely, and took another sip by way of distraction.

She proffered her hand and he passed her the flask again. She drank and handed it back but she was leaning towards him now. Her body language was warm, inviting. He took note.

 _Was it always this way? She just keeps a lid on it until she gets a little tipsy?_

He didn't remember her drinking much in all the time they traveled together.

"Like walkin' around with a gun and shooting the bad guys that go there to steal seeds?" She laughed.

"Hey, dey got secret stuff there. Research stuff."

She rolled her eyes. "I'll never understand what's so secret about genetically engineered corn or whatever." She waved her hand…letting it go. He happily took the cue and took another drink.

"You know…I'm lucky I ran into you. Thought you'd be running all over the galaxy like you usually do." He found his body language shifting to match hers, pulling his knee onto the couch, leg flush to the fabric. Now they were a scant six inches from each other, leaning in like conspirators.

"Nope, I'm grounded…Ship needs maintenance."

"So you just hang around?"

"I _do_ some of it, but yeah, mostly I've just been readin'"

"What do you read?"

She smiled at him. "Silly books."

"You should read some to me." The line was so corny he took his flask out again. Perhaps he could blame it on the alcohol.

"Somehow I think my literature could be a bit too silly for a man like you."

"Oh yeah…what kinda man am I petit?" He smirked, tried to make it sound sexy, but he sounded a little sad instead.

She shuffled nearer holding his gaze, almost touching him, reached over and took the flask out of his hand again, drank from it. A gesture he found profoundly encouraging. He had not given explicit thought to what he intended to do by coming here. He only knew that he wanted to come. And he realized that some ancient part of his brain was driving him, some base urge, some primal chemistry that he was tangentially aware of only by his desire to touch her, to coax smiles and blushes from her.

"I think you're a complicated man Mr. Le Beau." She said plainly. There were a thousand different ways she could have spun that line and the one she picked was unreadable…she was never obvious about what she wanted, even inches away from her as he was, she didn't radiate the sort of desire that most women radiated. Perhaps it was her inexperience…her inability to flirt, to signal. He didn't know. At moments he thought he caught glimpses of her lust intermingled with shyness, or professionalism, or something else that held her in check.

"Heh…I bet you say dat to all de boys you lure onto your ship." He quipped back.

She laughed. "I think that's technically true."

"Oh?" He said as he took the flask back from her, brushing her knuckles with his fingertips. Nothing. God dammit he wanted her to be obvious. He wanted her to ask for it. She sat so close to him he could feel the warmth of her breath, all the angles of her body were welcoming him, but if he reached out and kissed her it might be too much.

"Yeah." Was all she said.

He just looked at her for a beat and she looked back…the moment grew, became awkward, but when he thought she would look away, she said haltingly "Why didn't you want me…when we were in New Madripoor?"

The question gave him goose bumps. It was a question he had asked himself but he knew the reason and he figured it was a good reason. He licked his lips before he answered.

"You were drunk Chere." A response he thought would be instantly accepted and would absolve him of his rejection.

"Was that really it?" She asked pointedly, slowly. "Because it seems like you were interested until I told you…" She opened her palm and gave the slightest shrug.

He nodded slowly "Yeah...dat's true." And he lowered his gaze for a moment to think. _Why me? Wouldn't you want dat to be special or sometin_? He couldn't say that though and risk making her feel somehow immoral for being willing to sleep with a vagabond and a thief like himself on her first go round, not to mention the other words that could apply to him. He revised ever so slightly. "You'd wanna be sober y' first time, wouldn't you?" He looked back up at her. A thread of bitterness at himself for dissuading her and a thread of frisson at the direction this evening was going.

Her eyes were fixed on him, searching his face, and he was unable to break her gaze this time. His pulse buzzed in his ears. At length she offered him a slow nod.

"I can see that…" She paused. "but, sober I would never have…" she pressed her lips together thoughtfully and gathered herself. He was not surprised to hear her say it. That she never would have come upstairs with him in the first place…

"…I would never have had the courage…" She left off there, trusting that enough had been spoken. His pulse picked up another beat.

 _Fuck it, just kiss her_

"Looks like you got de courage now p'tit." He teased as he slipped his arms around her waist, pulled her into an embrace, felt her delicate shudder.

"Dis what you want?" He whispered against her cheek and pulled back again briefly, enjoying the wide eyed wonderment and inexperienced fearfulness commingled. Her hands grasped his biceps and her breath came fast and shallow. But she didn't answer him and he wanted to hear it…

"How 'bout dis." As he pressed his lips to hers. She kissed him back timidly, stiffly and he answered with calculated aggression, gently forcing her mouth open. And then it was…perfect. Perfect suppleness, perfect tender submission. He could practically feel her melting, relaxing against him. Her grasp became an embrace and as he withdrew her teeth tugged gently at his lower lip making him moan involuntarily.

It was a yes.

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	2. Chapter 2

She knew it was a bad idea, right from the get go. He wasn't an issue at first, well he wasn't a huge issue at first, but he just kept growing on her, taking up space in her mind, until she was worried, terrified even, that he had been killed in Madripoor. And when he showed up out of the blue she was thrilled, _thrilled,_ to see him...and that unnerved her still. She couldn't though; she couldn't actually _do_ anything with him. It would be a dead end road with his nature and, well, her nature…in fact she deeply doubted she would ever have a "real" relationship, whatever that meant. But she couldn't help what she wanted, no matter how much she tried to reason herself out of it. And still, she was too disciplined, or scared, or inept, to actually convey that without getting drunk. So when he offered his flask she upended it into her mouth like it was lifesaving medicine.

Ten years ago she kissed a boy. He was beautiful and strong and young like her and what happened to him didn't make any sense. She remembered stretching up on her tiptoes to reach his mouth and when their lips touched he convulsed ever so slightly. She thought that was normal, thought he was just excited like her, but then his kiss pressed into her, then his face, then his body, until she realized that he was collapsing. She screamed when he hit the floor, rolled him over, looked into his eyes that moved up and down and up and down as though his pupils were on a vertical track. The medics came, then the doctor, who placed him on life support. She brought him flowers but he slept until they withered and dried. She brought him more. An Aneurism, deep in his brainstem had rendered him insensate and a few months later he died.

She felt the predictable emotions, sadness and guilt, but something more had happened, some stray part of her mind had rattled loose. And she thought, she swore, that she could hear him still, calling her name, talking to her. When she told Kurt he betrayed her and told Raven…

A decade of self-denial passed. There were too many complications to having a relationship, both within her mind and without. Hell, there were too many complications to live in the world apart from the one Raven had built for her to inhabit. So she sat in her ship, in the cockpit chair, the throne of her tiny kingdom, and she lived this life because it was what she knew.

But she wanted a man. It was engraved on her DNA and there was no amount of oversight from Raven or Kurt, no amount of carefully formulated pharmaceuticals, no amount of political intrigue or interstellar drama could change it. And she had the opportunity if she would avail herself of it. Raven's shadow government was full of would be up and comers who might find favor if they allied themselves with her daughter. There were maintainers and comm. guys. The regulars at the local bar. But none of them seemed quite right. So what was she looking for?

From those early teenage years when she first awoke to the world of men she was often confused by what exactly it was that made some of them so damn interesting but not others. Looks seemed important but she had ignored many attractive men, many smart, accomplished, wealthy men. Had they ignored her too? What was necessary for attraction?

She remembered an avionics guy came out to the flight line and replaced an amplifier on a KAS jet. All she saw was his silhouette, the shape and length of his frame as he braced the weight of it over his head. The width of his shoulders as he swung it lithely down onto a dolly. The ease and grace with which he handled a hundred and twenty pound box of electronics. It was hard to look away. But there had to be more than angle, proportion, and grace. What had it been with Cody that made her kiss him?

And here it was sitting in front of her. All the intangible things that made her _want_. His half smiles, his cocksure glances, his witty banter, his long limbed body just sitting there, right there, conversing with her. Perhaps the beauty that needed to be explained was no beauty at all. She wondered what her hand would look like pressed against his.

She abandoned reason. She became distracted. At a break in the conversation she had lost track of what they were talking about and said what was really on her mind.

"Why didn't you want me…when we were in New Madripoor." The words had already come out before she could catch them back and she had no recourse but to sit there solemnly and hear his reply. He looked sorry or something, telling her it was supposed to be special, that she shouldn't be drunk. But she needed to be drunk for the words to come out. She was drunk now, wasn't she?

And then he kissed her and it was like everything emptied out of her but for the knowledge of how to move her lips, of how to hold him in her arms and press her body to him. The knowledge passed down to her by the first woman.

She was bolder than she thought she would be, trailing her mouth down his neck, glorying in the feel of his stubble against her cheek, the smell of his skin, fisting the fabric of his shirt as he ran his hands along her back to her waist. It was as though she had fasted so long she forgot she was hungry, and here was a feast. He threaded his fingers into her hair and pulled her head back to kiss her mouth again, greedily, almost angrily and she couldn't help but roll her hips into him utterly pleased with herself when he broke their kiss to curse.

But it was too much to ask for…just as he leaned back to grab the hem of his shirt they both heard the heavy clomping of boots below and the telltale clanging of a tool bag hitting the floor.

"Anna?" Joe's voice echoed from below as Remy's had just an hour before.

"Oh my god." She whispered as much to herself as to him, then she called out louder, "Just a minute!"

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Please Review (it keeps me going)


	3. Chapter 3

Sorry for the short chapter. I had hoped to add another 1000 words to this but real life stuff keeps happening. Thanks Ludi, kataract52, jehilew, Spasticatt, SinfulVamp, Afroeuvre, and "Guest" for the kind reviews. Special thanks to Ludi for letting me email her all the time with randomness.

Also, I am aware of my slight misuse of the word "Creole". It just sounded right.

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She got up and walked over to the wall, kicking a panel open. When she turned back to him he was just looking at her with what she could only describe as a sort of cynical curiosity. She gathered her hair into a tight ponytail and straightened her shirt, then stepped near him again and whispered, "You're a comm guy."

He leaned and looked past her to the bank of gold threads and silver nodes in arabesque circles now visible in the panel. "A'right," was all he said.

She looked at him and he still sat there until she jerked her head implying he should come with her, so he obliged, slowly rising to his feet and following her. She walked at a deliberate pace, with a deliberate stride, trying to imply how normal everything was by her demeanor, trying to pretend she wasn't the slightest bit tipsy. Remy saw Joe stiffen at their approach. He could tell he was being sized up.

"Joe, this is Remy. He's reprograming some of the quantum nodes. Remy, this is Joe, he does engine maintenance.

"Nice to meet you." Joe extended his hand and Remy took it for a very proper handshake. "Reprogramming, that sounds rather…involved."

"Jus' a software update…don't listen to her. Pilots think dey know everything."

Joe broke out into unexpected laughter and Anna was forced to look at Remy for the sheer smoothness of his lie. She smiled tightly.

Joe wiped a tear from his eye, "I'm sorry but it's true Anna."

"Yeah, yeah…you guys laugh it up." She rolled her eyes but she was infinitely relieved that the Creole could play his role so well. She only prayed that Joe's questioning stayed superficial.

"So you work for Uni Comm or Duncan Avionics?" He asked innocently enough.

"Duncan" He said without hesitation.

"Interesting, I didn't think they were hiring."

"Well y'know…right place, right time."

Anna ummed a little bit and looked at Remy.

He rubbed the back of his neck and opened his palm. "What time do you want me here tomorrow, p'tit?" Again he noticed Joe look at him when he called her 'p'tit'.

"Ah…noon?"

"Sounds good…I'll uh, remember my laptop next time."

"Actually…no…I might have to be gone tomorrow. Do you have my number saved?" She handed him her phone. "Text yourself and I'll get back to you." He pressed his lips together and quickly punched out _Remy, I desperately want you 00-119042-864114_

"Great." He slapped the phone back into her open palm, half turned, and raised his hand…see ya Joe."

"Bye," said Joe…a little too happily for Remy's taste.

He could hear them chatting about something as he walked down the ramp and was a little dismayed to turn his head for a moment and see Anna taking off her shoes in his periphery.

 _What the Fuck! What de actual Fuck was that?!_

And to top it all off his duffle bag was still up by the couch. _FuckFuckingFuck._ It wasn't that he couldn't sneak back in there and get it. They went off into the back and he knew enough about that ship to find alternate means to just about any place in it. It was the fact that he had been _this close_ to a fucking volcano of pent up feminine lust. The way she kissed his neck he almost doubted she was a virgin. He didn't care. She had been on his mind for a loooong time now and he just wanted her. Almost had her.

And who the fuck was this Joe guy?!

He stood in a shadow of the hangar for a few minutes. Smoked a cigarette.

 _I can wait for him to leave but who knows how long that might take. I can go in there and get my shit but then I won't have a reason to be in there any more._

He was trying not to get too worked up over how _annoying_ this all was when his phone chimed and he practically jumped out of his skin.

 _Sry…I panicked. This is going to take a couple hours. We'll be in the back for a while if you want to grab your stuff._

 _Why did you panic?_ He typed it out, thought it sounded a little confrontational, deleted it, couldn't think of anything better, and typed it out again.

 _What was I supposed to say? Hey Joe, I forgot we had an appointment and you interrupted me making out with this guy you've never met, can you come back later?_

 _Sounds fine to me._

 _…funny._

 _Seriously Chere, you're gonna do engine maintenance when you're drunk?_

 _I'm just buzzed…besides…Joe does the maintenance…I just unlock the room and babysit._

 _You drank a lot._

 _Baby sips for baby sits._

 _… … You drank more than I thought._

 _UhHuh. Listen…where are you staying tonight?_

He stared at his phone and thought about how he wanted to answer this question without sounding either disinterested or presumptuous but she beat him to the punch.

 _If you can sneak back on you can crash in one of the rooms on the ship. Unless you have other plans._

He hesitated again. Her reply was welcome but had a platonic quality to it that he disliked.

 _Alright…but are you gonna tell me what all that was about?_

 _Hang on_

About ten minutes passed.

 _Sorry about that. Joe keeps trying to chat me up and he's a cool guy. I don't wanna be rude to him. Anyways, people around here talk and if you haven't noticed my mama is IN MY BUSINESS. So I don't want it getting back to her that I have a new social life goin' on._

The answer was plausible and his initial agitation had cooled.

 _Alright, I'm turning my phone off to sneak back in_.

He turned off the ringer and slipped his phone back in his pocket, then crept back up the ramp and along the interior hull wall. No special ingress was needed. They were in the back of the ship and he could hear the far off sound of their conversation. He slowly and carefully walked right up the stairs he had descended not 20 minutes ago, retrieved his duffle bag, and crept into his old room.

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Please Review.


	4. Chapter 4

Thank you to my reviewers SinfulVamp, Jehilew, Spasticatt, katartct52, afroeuvre, and guest. And special thanks to Ludi for Beta-ing.

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Kurt took her up…to this safe place. To this hidden door in the floor of a grain silo surrounded by wheat and wild grass. She had been restless and needed to feel the wind on her face. She needed to think as well…about what was happening to her.

No one said much about it so it didn't seem like a big deal, but now that she was "older" she realized it was because no one understood what was happening and consequently no one knew what to do about it.

When she looked in the mirror now she saw a woman in the summer of life where only a year ago it had been spring. It frightened her that she might careen all the way through winter before she had a chance to get her bearings…to remember. Memory though, was fraught with fear, with pain, and now with anger. Someone had hurt her and she could hear his voice, beautiful and cold, repeating itself in her memory.

"Regression…another regression…another blood sample…another biopsy…bone marrow…brain…regression…regression…regression."

She remembered the pain of thick needles. In her bones. In her skull. She remembered tiny child hands too tired to move or in too much pain to be still. Had she been sedated for some of it? For most of it? Because she still couldn't fully separate dream from memory. Only that voice…it was real. She knew it was real. And she hated it.

She stood in the door of the silo and looked out over the fields. Kurt stood behind her, a little unnerved by her far away demeanor but by something else as well. She was undeniably a woman now, perhaps even older than him in appearance, and addressing her as a child seemed disrespectful. He clasped his hands behind his back.

"Rora. There are high clouds…we should go"

She turned her head slightly as if hearing some distant sound that she didn't recognize. Then she seemed to snap out of it She smiled at him and walked closer to him. "You are walking quite well." She said innocently.

"Ja…it is much better." He unconsciously looked down at his leg.

"I thought you might have a limp."

"It never fully fractured. It was a lot of tissue damage though."

"I suppose…I suppose that is good to hear."

"Yes." His brow was furrowed. He could not help his manner. She was undoubtedly Rora…but in the weeks since he last saw her she had turned into a rather intimidating woman. He wanted to tell her to come inside with him, but he couldn't bring himself to do more than suggest.

"What is it?" She asked politely.

"You are very different Rora."

"Oh that. Yes…I don't know that there is much to do about it though."

"What has Dr. McCoy said?"

She didn't know why this made her laugh a little bit but it did. "He knows nothing."

"Are you going to keep aging?"

"Every indication points to yes…but somehow I don't think so. Somehow I feel as though I have reached a certain threshold….and a certain level of understanding." She looked at him pointedly.

"What do you mean?"

"What are we doing here Kurt? You are obviously a sniper. This compound is obviously secret, the trap door in this silo is secret. I speak with people and they are all working for this organization that seems to have a purpose but I'm not sure what it is. Even Anna…she works for it. What is it?"

"It isn't my place…"

"Alright then." She looked away abruptly and he felt dismissed. Thunder sounded in the distance but he left her there, because she seemed capable of coming in when the rain began.

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Raven took her seat in the darkened room and sipped her lukewarm tea. A few free standing desks sat in her periphery, their inhabitants shielded by opaque crystal monitors.

"Hello ma'am, how was your trip to Kitra?" A young blond man said as he stepped out from behind the hull of his work station.

She smiled and bowed her head in the direction of the voice.

"It was fine Douglas. I hope you didn't miss me here too badly."

"We managed." He said good-naturedly if sarcastically…She smiled a little at that.

"So what is this briefing in regards to? Usually Emma briefs me, so I assume this is urgent…"

"We don't know ma'am." Doug replied politely and Raven smiled ever so slightly every time he called her ma'am. "But Ms. Frost is in Tenz at the moment and we didn't really want to wait."

"By all means then." She gestured to the wall-mounted screen with her hand and Doug began his narration, as the screen seemed to magically flicker in time with his story.

An image of young Ororo illuminated the room.

"We knew that the girl's name was Ororo and we assumed that she was a test subject for Dr. Essex. This has been confirmed."

Raven stifled a yawn.

"She was part of a research endeavor titled 'Project Storm'."

An image of the Essex compound appeared.

"It began with hundreds of subjects and aimed to delay the aging process. This required multiple age regressions by an unknown means and it proved fatal to all subjects except for Ms. Munro."

Another image of Rora at an even younger age.

"However the dates on Essex's lab notes lead us to believe that Ms. Munro may be upwards of 45 years old. One of Essex oldest subjects."

Raven went utterly still.

"There was another project as well…"

"Wait…do you have the experimental data from this project?"

"Yes."

"In it's entirety?"

"We believe so, yes, with the exception of his regression method."

"That's…almost unbelievable. I am thoroughly impressed when all I asked you for was her identity. How may I ask?"

"We exploited a zero-day security shortfall in their new R&D security system. It is now patched but we were able to gather…quite a bit, which brings me to the next subject you asked me to look into. Mr. LeBeau. He was also the subject of one of Essex research projects."

An image of a handsome auburn haired man in a Dark Star uniform flashed on the screen. Raven sat up in her chair, suddenly alert.

"He looks… … …very much like Essex."

"Yes…with good reason…he was part of another project called the "Black Womb" meant to supply Dark Star with enhanced soldiers with diminished empathy. Essex used his own genetic material and that of a donor and 'improved' upon it. The soldiers were all clones…"

An image of an identical man covered in tattoos appeared.

"…and having determined that children raised in the lab were sub optimal subjects he decided to adopt them out, however most have since died from a built in genetic defect which limits their lifespan."

Another image of Le Beau in his uniform flashed on the screen…Raven stared like a statue at the picture, looking sidelong with a cigarette half way to his mouth.

"Mr. Le Beau was adopted by Marguerite and Jean Luc Le Beau and given the name Remy. He lived out his youth in the remediated region of New Orleans where he had frequent run ins with law enforcement. He was monitored from a distance and at 16 Essex reached out to him through a Dark Star recruiter. He was given specific assignments, which Essex used to study him one of which was the destruction of Izmar. After this Remy defected, and Essex declined to pursue him, deeming him a failed experiment. He popped up briefly working for an organized crime syndicate. He left this as well and disappeared for a while only to turn up with Anna and Ororo several months ago. Incidentally Mrs. Munro had escaped Essex's lab and been captured by thugs working for this same syndicate presumably for trafficking, but as her captors had been killed she was left to die in a storage locker. Per her own statements it was Mr. Le Beau who saved her and kicked this investigation off in the first place."

Raven was motionless, staring forward at this rough facsimile of a young Nathaniel Essex. His eyes were brown instead of his father's steely blue…but the bones of the face…the confidence in his pose and movement, earned or not, were all the same. His eyes though, captured as they were in a personal moment, seemed empty, dangerous in an immediate way. Not in the way Essex was dangerous with his plotting and gamesmanship. Dangerous now, in this moment.

"Do either of the subjects." She paused, re-approached…"how much data did you capture?"

"As I said…a great deal, but this seemed particularly pertinent…I hope we did not overstep…"

"No." She interrupted him…"You did well. Do not hesitate to use your discretion in the future." She stood to go, but turned suddenly, "Doug…send me the entire file and tell me. Are there any more of these clones running around?"

"So far as I can tell there are two more. One is in a reeducation camp on an island in the Indian Ocean with no official status, but some reports refer to it as Genosha. The other is in hospice in San Margolinas we assume dying from his genetic programing."

She nodded again and left. She tore down the doorways to her office with a giddy excitement she hadn't felt in years. The knowing of secrets had a certain thrill, but there was something special about this…a potential weapon against Essex. She didn't know how but she knew it was there. Somewhere.

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It was early in the morning when she woke him with a gentle nudge. He breathed in deeply, rousing himself from sleep.

"Sorry Cajun. We gotta leave early if we're gonna leave at all."

He stretched and looked at her.

"Why we gotta leave at all?"

"Because people come around here all the time. I got you coffee."

"Can't you just, I don't know, not answer the door?"

"Kurt has the codes, Momma has the codes, Logan has the codes…"

"Who's Logan?"

Anna thought about her answer a little more than he would have liked. "He's a friend of the family…Look, drink your coffee." She shoved it into his hands. "I got us a no-questions-asked shuttle back to your hometown."

"Nawlins?" He sleepily rubbed his eyes.

"Madripoor."

"Oh…right…right." He yawned and stretched one last time. She could only proffer repeated apologies and he waved them off sipping his coffee, hopping out of bed fully dressed. It would feel nice to be back at his apartment. On his turf.

"Do I have time to shower?"

"If you hurry…the weather is picking up."

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They boarded the Queen Rania, the same ship he had rested under while looking for her and settled in for a flight that would be neither long nor short, a few hours on this dedicated passenger shuttle. It was decked out for fancier guests than they but Anna knew the pilot and this was strictly a favor in a time of slow business.

Remy took one of the plush seats opposite Anna and wondered just where their relationship rested just now. She was inexperienced and he doubted she would initiate anything or even know how to invite him without drinking, and that was a crutch he didn't want to get used to using. He was eager to touch her, and be touched by her, but she was giving off neutral vibes right now and he didn't feel like mounting an assault. He felt like having something in his hands to fidget with, to calm him, but he doubted he could smoke in here either.

"So"…he looked her in the eye. "Why can't your Momma know you have a…" he searched for the right word, "social life."

She looked at him. "Because if she thought you were anything more than a random acquaintance you would be investigated."

He shifted uncomfortably in his seat. "What do you mean?"

"I mean…she would investigate you…thoroughly."

"Why."

"You know her name is Raven?"

"Yeah."

"You know her last name is Darkholm?"

"I do now." He said, apparently unimpressed, but he looked away from her quickly.

She seemed surprised by his lack of concern.

"Why…is she famous or something?" He asked, a picture of perfect indifference.

"She's…a politician."

"Oh."

"I don't believe for a second that you don't know who she is."

His eyes darted back to her.

"Why's that p'tit?" He asked with a half-smile.

She regarded him for a moment. "She's on the news all the time… and because you know things. You make a business of knowing things, of being a step ahead. People think your harmless…charming…fun. But you're more than that."

Her tone was half admiration half accusation. She called him a liar and implied it got her going at the same time. He weighed his words. "Alright…I do know about her. She's on the news now and again going on and on about double harvest seasons and climate change and distribution networks for things like fucking cotton and rice. It's all boring as shit." He tried to shift the discussion, ignoring the lie he'd been caught in. "Why would she investigate me…does she think I'm gonna interfere with her rice distribution plan or something."

"She's just…protective is all." Now it was Anna's turn to squirm a little."

"You sure ma Chere? You sure your momma isn't into some dirty business?" He goaded.

"All politicians are dirty." She said quietly.

At least that was something they could agree on.

He stood up and looked down at her smiling, steering the conversation the most effective way he knew how. They were a few feet apart and he closed the distance. She looked clueless, frozen. He bent down, bracing his hands on the arms of the chair and whispered.

"What are we gonna do in Madripoor? Hmm?"

She rolled her eyes. "You know what we're gonna do."

"Do I? I only ever follow your lead Chere and you are all over de map." It was a gentle reproach, deserved or not and she looked at his eyes, sparkling and hungry, and she felt compelled to reach up to the neck of his shirt and pull his face closer until her check rubbed against the stubble of his jaw.

"Maybe I don't know where I'm going…maybe I need a navigator." She whispered.

He paused. Her comment was blatantly flirtatious but as prepossessed as she could seem it was easy to forget her innocence and he wondered if he should leave her be, let her eventually figure out that her engine mechanic wanted to be her valentine instead of taking what she seemed to be offering with no strings attached…but there were strings attached. A girl like her had strings. And against his better judgment he pried…"I can navigate, no problem…but the best navigator in de universe still needs to know where you wanna go."

He already regretted saying it and she gave the best answer he could hope for under the circumstances.

"I don't know where I wanna go."

He hitched a lopsided smile and let a breath out, tickling her ear, and then, just to shut himself up, and because he wanted to, he pulled back far enough to let his lips meet hers. She melted, her lips fit to his and she kissed him back timidly, not a trace of the bold, tipsy girl from the night before except for the hand grasping his shirt and holding him near. He shifted to kiss her more deeply but the gravity of the ship shifted as well, indicating that they were making their descent. He withdrew to his chair and smiled at her. She, however, seemed suddenly sheepish, suffused with blush and disoriented.

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Is it LeBeau or Le Beau.

Please review.


	5. Chapter 5

This chapter (and likely the following chapters) justify the M rating...so, be aware. Also, I am particularly interested in your opinion of this scene as its my first sex scene. I've gotten some positive feed back so I hope you like it.

Thanks to my lovely beta reader Ludi. She is the best!

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Rora walked out of the silo towards the bank of clouds rolling up and out. The flat plains made a canvas of the sky that no forest or mountain dweller could understand. There was no illusion of shelter when the thunderheads came. Men dug holes in the earth to escape the wrath of the Sky…and the Sky was everywhere. All around was nothing but wheat tracing the underbelly of the wind, and now lying flat beneath it, thrashed by it. With the light behind her, she walked into the wind as if compelled. Her eyes opened wide and streaked her face with tears of joy that she could not comprehend. There was a promise of home even if that home was oblivion.

The storm raced to meet her and the wind buffeted her left and right. She felt the pressure change in her ears and cold air at her back. A little to her right dust and grass rose and swirled. The epicenter seemed to drift gathering more dust, more grass. Then she could see a faint funnel of dust extending up and she knew she should run, but she didn't want to because it was so beautiful and because she wasn't afraid. She stood her ground and watched as the clouds were pulled down to shroud the contours of the wind until a funnel formed before her and rolled slowly across her path. It was no monster…it wasn't coming to get her. Why would anyone be afraid?

In her periphery she saw something moving, a figure running toward her at full tilt. She could make out a stocky man with dark hair and he looked like he was yelling but his words were lost in the storm. He was closing in on her fast and suddenly the spell broke. She was 100 feet away from a growing tornado, one that could alter its path any second and suck her up into the stratosphere, or throw a rock at her at 200 miles per hour, or simply expand and swallow her. She sucked in a shuddering breath and turned to run towards the stranger, but as soon as she bolted she felt the irresistible power of the air behind her lifting her off of her feet and she screamed. She tumbled aloft, completely disoriented. When she started to fall another current of air picked her up again, then another. The air was so full of sound that she couldn't hear her own hysterical wailing. At one point she was looking down at the ground, the man a mere insect below her. Something impacted her leg painfully…then her abdomen and she thought she might retch. She realized it was hail…but that was her last thought before everything went dark.

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When she walked into his apartment she felt a sense of panic that had trailed behind her in the shuttle, in the taxi, in the elevator, in the long hallway to his door, and only now caught her by the hair at the back of her neck.

His apartment was nicer than she had expected. The furniture was a soft cream color and the tables in the living room were glass. There was a shaggy animal skin rug in front of the fire place. It felt sterile and alien and somehow not quite what she expected of him. The kitchen was a little better. There was a French press sitting by the sink as though someone had washed it and set it there to dry. A little pile of personal items: cigarettes, lighter, playing cards, wallet. A single fork sat out on the counter. She absently opened the drawer and found a hoard of unused chopsticks that made her chuckle.

"What is it Chere."

"Nothing...I found your chopstick stockpile."

"Did you?" He laughed. "Madrippor has the best Thai food outside of Thailand." He said as he retrieved towels from the closet and put them on the counter in the bathroom. "You wanna have Thai tonight?"

"I can't do Thai…it's too hot."

"See, you're sayin' dat because you've never had really good Thai food." He walked past where she stood in the kitchen and pulled a glass down from the shelf, filled it with water, then sat down in the living room angling himself to where she stood. She stayed in the kitchen a room's length between them.

"You said you would cook for us one time, remember?"

"Yeah…you want me to cook for you?" A part of him squirmed. He was eager for what the evening promised and cooking dinner seemed like a setback.

"Might be nice." She said quietly.

There was a pause. Remy put down his glass and interlaced his fingers across his abdomen.

"You seem tense Chere."

"I am tense." She replied without hesitation and the admission of it gave her courage. He watched curiously as she leisurely approached and came to stand between his knees. She looked down at him and then gracefully dropped to one knee, then the other, all the while keeping his eye. The barely there smile he always seemed to have wavered and he was suddenly serious.

"If you're gonna get wet you might as well go swimming…right?" She asked rhetorically as she slid her palms from his knee to his thigh.

He swallowed. "Right." He said, and wondered at how fast she had toggled between shrinking violet and scorching temptress.

She hesitated, thrown off by the disappearance of his mona-lisa smile and his usually constant air of confidence. Having come this far there was no way to back out without looking like a fool and she wasn't sure how to go forward. It must have shown in her expression because he rescued her by lifting his hands and tracing the sides of her face.

"Ma p'tit, if you knew how beautiful you were you would be modeling in New York, or San Margolinas, or Beijing."

She smiled at him and seemed to gather herself once more.

"Take off your shirt…I wanna see you." She ordered gently.

He leaned forward a little and pulled it over his head, tossing it somewhere behind her. She let her hands wander the landscape of his bare skin, firm and smooth but for the scars. She traced the evidence of a bullet wound and another scar of what she later learned was a loading accident. There were more…more than she could count.

"Hmm…sometimes I think I know you…even though you have so many secrets…but then I see this and I realize I have no idea what you've been through."

The comment was touching, but he didn't know what to say in reply. Still, if he said nothing he was afraid she would freeze up again. He put his hands over hers and she returned her gaze to him. "Don't worry about what I've been through p'tit. The past is past."

She thought on his words for a moment then returned her eyes to where her hands were; sliding them down she pulled the button of his jeans free but couldn't find the audacity to unzip them. Instead she grasped the fabric at his hips and pulled them down along with his boxers. He shifted to help her and she slid them both all the way to his calves. There was something powerful about this arrangement, something that made her feel a little more comfortable…her clothed while he was almost naked. Him, practically restrained by the jeans around his ankles, his knees splayed out to make room for her. She looked at him again and his face was unreadable but she was not intimidated this time. Letting her eyes wander to his erection she blushed deeply.

"Scoot forward a little." She said in such a mousy voice that she was surprised by how quickly he complied. She rested her arms along his legs, thumbs on his hip bones, and slowly let her mouth open and her face fall forward. The fingers of his left hand wove into her hair and pulled slightly until she looked up at him, but she didn't stop. She took him in her mouth and watched his eyes widen, then close, then his head fell back all together. The fingers in her hair tightened as she moved up and down and her hands came to surround him where her mouth could not. She closed her eyes and worked earnestly, pressing him as far back in her mouth as she could and then a little further, sucking and tounging according to what she imagined he would like. There was an abstract pleasure in it; in pleasing a man, in smelling his skin and tasting his sweat…and she felt her body respond, become warmer, and slick in secret places. It went on a little longer than she expected but she could feel his hips tense as he resisted the urge to thrust into her face. His hand felt heavy as though it wanted her to swallow him whole…so she tried…making a volley of obscene little choking sounds that seemed to send electricity through his body. The muscles in his legs quivered and the balls of his feet pressed into the floor, his heels lifted up. He made a soft cry somewhere in the tenor range…a higher pitch than his normal voice, and somehow it was the sexiest thing she had ever heard. So much so that when he climaxed it took her by surprise and she recoiled with a start from the semen that shot into her mouth and onto her face. She was shocked, catching some of it in her hands and looking dumbly at it then back at him. He breathed heavily, rested his head in his right hand, and regarded her. Fully clothed, her face almost fearful, holding her cupped hands like some offering she didn't know what to do with. He closed his eyes and rubbed his forehead.

"My god, Chere."

She didn't know what he meant so she bit her lip to prevent herself from stuttering out something stupid. She stood up and went to the sink in the kitchen to wash her hands and face. When she looked up again he was coming towards her, naked and unashamedly so. He grabbed her by the wrist and pulled her into the bedroom.

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Thanks for reading.


	6. Chapter 6

Happy Holidays everyone! Short chapter but making progress. Thank you to Ludi for her excellent Beta-ing. I have even taken the liberty of using some of her lines in this and in the next chapter.

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She was sunk into a dreamless sleep from which she was only roused by the fleeting sensation of floating, of dangling limbs. And then some time after there was a dull light and warmth. Then pain that at first seemed distant and abstract but grew closer and came into sharp focus. She was formless but the pain gave her a form…outlined the contours of her body. She had a head, which ached. She had eyes that cracked open to the too bright light of the sun streaming in through simple 4 pane windows.

Memory failed her and there was a moment of panic when she thought she might be back in Essex's lab. She quickly pushed herself up to a sitting position but was instantly dizzy and slowly lowered herself back down onto the couch with a throbbing headache. When she looked around it was obvious that she was in a cabin. The walls and exposed beams of the ceiling were all wood, rough-hewn and unpainted.

The door cracked and more sunlight flooded in. She lifted a hand to shield her eyes as a broadly build man entered covered in dust and dirt and carrying a tool box which he dropped loudly by the entryway.

"You're up." He said with a slight edge in his voice.

She could do nothing but stare at him through squinted eyes. He closed the door and her face relaxed a little. Somewhere her mind forced her to push words past her mouth so that she wouldn't just be sitting there like caught prey.

"Where am I?" The first and most obvious question on her mind.

"You're in my house. I found you in the field." He walked to her left, toward the kitchen bar and pulled down a glass, filled it with water, then carried it to her. When she did not immediately lift her hand to take it he set it next to her on the side table and returned to the kitchen, turning his back on her to fill his own glass.

"Do you remember how you got in the field?" He asked over his shoulder.

"Yes."

He spun half around, surprised. "Really?" The word jumped out spontaneously, as if he wasn't used to being surprised much anymore. In a moment the look was gone, and he added in a more neutral tone, "I assumed you were too strung-out to know what the hell was going on."

"I understand." She said solemnly. It gave him pause and he looked at her for a moment longer though she only looked at the floor. He took a drink and hazarded another question.

"Are you from the migrant camp?" Whatever annoyance he'd projected was replaced by curiosity.

"No."

"Where are you from then?" And she thought the edge was back but she couldn't be certain. It lit a tiny flame of anger in her and that anger prompted her to answer honestly.

"I was a prisoner of Dr. Nathanial Essex. He performed experiments on me. I escaped but was recaptured. I was rescued. I traveled here on a ship called Rogue…" She trailed off, feeling both the foolishness of absolute honesty and the fear that she might reveal some secret that she ought not to. "Does it matter where I'm from? I'm here now." She finished and looked up at him. He was looking back with an intensity that she had never seen in a man's face before. He was almost scowling at her but it was not in anger.

"Rogue." He repeated.

"Yes."

"So you're a friend of Anna's?"

"Yes."

"Interestin'."

He drank all his water in three or four gulps. When he finished he wiped his mouth with the back of his forearm. "Well…I'm about to wash up. I got the antenna fixed, so I can call her up to come get you…or I can take you into town. Was gonna call the doctor but you don't look like an emergency anymore." The words seemed pointed at her, but he seemed like he was talking more to himself; his eyes were no longer on her, and he slapped the glass down on the bar, all his previous gruffness back. He headed for a back room and said over his shoulder: "Help yourself to anything you want from the pantry."

She stared after him as he disappeared down the hallway.

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As soon as the sirens stopped the call came. Kurt dutifully contacted the handful of people beneath him on the roster to make sure no one had been hurt in the tornado…including Anna…who did not answer. He was not immediately worried but went to the flight line just in case, only to find her ship empty. He looked in the equipment crawlspace and the access areas in case she was squirreled away somewhere working on wiring. He looked in her room and found only her unmade bed. He looked in his room and found his own bed unmade and recently slept in…an empty foam coffee cup on the floor, with a little coffee still clinging to the bottom.

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Please reveiw


	7. Chapter 7

Thank you to Ludi my excellent Beta.

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Whatever there had been between them before, it was different now. Before, whenever he came near her there had been tension and a pleasant sort of anxiety that made her unpredictable even to herself, but now there was an unspoken sense of alliance and she struggled to understand it. Its privileges and its limits all seemed delineated by intuition and an emotional language that existed without words. When they went to the club she stood nearer to him than before and he, for his part, would casually throw his arm around her waist to guide her through the throng…or to the dinner table with a light touch on the small of her back…or simply down the sidewalk as they walked through Hightown.

After that afternoon all boundaries had been scattered and wherever they rested now she had no hope of knowing… After he'd laid her down on his bed and kissed her in every way she could imagine. After he'd pushed his fingers inside of her and bit her skin. This, she remembered, was uncomfortable, bordering on painful even when he'd taken special care to make it pleasurable - still she'd loved it, still she'd rolled her hips into his hand seeking more. It made no sense that pleasure and desire should be so uncoupled, but there it was.

She had been terrified at first but no matter her reaction he had been calm, happy, like nothing was wrong, and that had made her calm in turn. She hadn't been surprised that he hadn't made love to her just then, but she had been a little surprised at how determined he was to reciprocate. His fingers had stroked and teased her while his teeth had carefully climbed the apex of a nipple. She had been maddeningly close to orgasm but couldn't quite make it over, so she'd finally put her hand over his and pressed the flat of his thumb over her clit just so. He'd snapped his head up to look at her face. She could tell he loved this but all he would show was his closed mouth smile and an eager gaze.

"What is it?" She'd panted.

His smile had deepened "Jus' wanna see your face when you come p'tit."

The answer had been sweet and kinky at the same time and it had had an effect on her. She'd pressed him into her harder, rocking back and forth under his hand in a pattern and rhythm that could never be taught. Her eyes had closed and she'd rolled her head away to hide the un-ladylike contortion of her face. She had felt his mouth on her neck as she'd wrung out the last spasms of orgasm.

Afterwards he'd led her to the shower and washed her with his own hands, then they had gotten dressed and gone out on the town, she in confused ecstasy, still wanting more, and he in a sort of relaxed good humor that she had rarely seen when they'd lived together.

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He took her to the Princess Bar, one of the handful of New Madripoor establishments so infamous that even Kurt had heard about them. It was enormous and lavish above ground with numerous levels. They took the winding marble staircase up four flights to a room full of deeply sunken circular sitting areas, each covered in layers of translucent purple and red gauze that gathered narrowly around some light source in the ceiling. The effect was a room full of colorful cloth tajine illuminated from within so that spectators could see the silhouettes of the guests, but no more. A woman in a lovely charabap approached them and Remy gave his name. She nodded and turned and Remy followed, pushing Anna gently along with his hand low on her back.

The woman reached one of the strange conical tents and pulled aside the fabric, bowing as she allowed them to pass by her. They walked down four substantial stairs into a large space completely circled by plush lilac couches and decorated pillows but for the stairs and a small fireplace which looked shockingly real though she couldn't tell where the smoke went or how the wood was replenished. In the middle of the room was a large round ottoman with a tray of drinks and peeled oranges.

Remy sprawled himself on the couch. Anna looked at him and giggled.

"It's hot in here…I think on purpose." She said slyly shedding her jacket. She went to him, sat on his lap, and wrapped her arms around his neck…a new and delightful liberty she felt she could take with him.

"I told them it should be warm." He said casually.

"Oh? Why's that?" She whispered in his ear and he took the opportunity to kiss her collarbone.

"Because I was cold when I made the reservation." He said with convincing sincerity. And he kissed her twice more before reaching over her to pick up his tumbler.

She suppressed the urge to say something equally silly like _I'll warm you up Cajun…blaghblaghblagh_ and instead twisted around and reached for her own drink.

"So what is this place?" She asked. "I've never seen anything like it."

"It's the Princess Lounge." He shrugged.

"So…a bar with private…pillow forts."

He laughed…"It's like a bar, but it's like a lot of things. I think you can order almost anything in one of these."

"Is there a menu or something?"

"Do you want one?"

"Well now I'm curious."

He looked at her a second then slid out from under her gracefully. He went to the place where the opening in the curtains was concealed and withdrew a tasseled rope. With one tug a subdued chime sounded and the same hostess arrived as quiet as a cat. She stood outside the curtain and said something in a language Anna didn't understand, then pulled the curtain aside and bowed. Remy said something to her and she minced off only to return a moment later offering a stack of leather bound menus. When Remy took them she bowed again and pulled the curtain closed.

"It's so quiet." Anna commented. "It's hard to believe this room is full of people."

"I think there's some special science to this place…the curtains block a lot of sound."

At that moment a loud laugh pierced the dim ambient noise.

"I guess I spoke too soon", she smiled and took a sip of her drink.

Remy sat down next to her and set the menus down across their laps. She leaned over and set the drink down on the ottoman then opened the first menu. He lazily twirled a lock of her hair in his fingers while she looked at the exhaustive wine list, the beer list, the mixed drinks. Another menu of every kind of food as thick as a bible. Another full of drugs, herbs, and 'oils'. Another full of services from performers, to massage, to explicit sexual acts. She was shocked and looked around her like she was in a new place.

"So I can just…order a girl to come and dance while I have dinner."

"You could…doesn't seem like your style though." He took a drink and she looked at him.

"What if I want this aerialist to perform while we eat?"

"Fine wit' me."

She took a sip and laughed. "Is there enough room in here for an aerialist?"

They both looked up and it appeared dubious but not impossible.

She flipped another page. "Body painting…hmmm…"

"I wouldn't mind seeing dat."

"Pfffft." She scoffed then turned the page back again. "I kinda want the aerialist."

"Go ahead." He gestured to the hidden opening with his glass.

"Wait…I don't see any prices."

He took another drink. "It's on a tab…don't worry about it."

There was a moment where she didn't know if it was more tactful to refuse or to acquiesce but he caught the look on her face and repeated himself. "Go ahead…I've already paid for everything, believe me."

She looked at him a second then went to the tasseled rope just as he had. When the hostess appeared she pointed to the item on the menu and the woman bowed and disappeared. Anna returned to Remy's side and stood running her fingers through his hair while he looked up at her. She enjoyed the slight numbness that the alcohol imparted.

Only a moment later a discreet shuffle of many feet could be heard around them and the curtains were pulled outward making the space above their heads large enough for an acrobat and allowing cool air into their little den. From the billow of many fabrics two long lengths of red silk swayed into the center and the ends pooled on the floor. A short blonde woman appeared between the curtains wearing only a black bikini bottom or its equivalent with a glittering pattern of golden lotuses covering her bare skin. Anna was a little shocked and felt some shame for accidentally ordering a burlesque show.

"I didn't mean to…" She trailed off, feeling the awkwardness of complaining about the performer she had requested while the same performer stood in front of her.

The woman bowed and grasped a handful of silk, wrapping it around her fist a few times, then she vaulted herself upside down and hooked a knee around the fabric. Her limbs spun almost faster than either of them could follow, twirling her up and up in a tangle of red. They both sat back and watched the show, leaning into one another and making small comments of admiration here and there. The woman was indeed a talented acrobat, better than either would have suspected to find working in a lounge.

After twenty minutes or so the woman wound herself to the very apex of the curtains and paused for two perfectly timed seconds before letting herself go and tumbling, almost falling, to barely inches above the floor. Anna gasped and even Remy tensed briefly before she caught herself, her body making an exact parallel plane with the marble tiles.

The woman untangled from the silks and bowed while her small audience clapped. She pulled the silks with her as she left and unseen hands adjusted the curtains, cloistering them once again so that the heat slowly began to return.

"What the hell do you do for a living Remy…this must cost a fortune."

He breathed a laugh. "You know what I do…and I might have done the owner some favors."

"Oh." She drank. "What kind of favors?" She said, stupidly flirting.

He leaned in toward her ear. "The bad kind."

"Inventory retrieval?" The kind of favor she was most familiar with.

"Yes. _Inventory retrieval._ "

"Well…you're good at that." She let her index and middle finger trip up the buttons on his shirt to his neck. _You're good at a lot of things_ she wanted to say, but didn't. Instead she let her finger linger there until he put his drink down, then he took her drink out of her hand and set it down next to his.

He ducked down and kissed her, hungrily, like that time on the ship, not the slow and methodical kisses from earlier that evening. He pushed her backwards with his body and let his weight settle on her. One of her legs bent along the back of the couch, the other fell over the side so that her foot rested on the floor. She could feel him there between her legs, the hard bluntness thrilling her nerves with its pressure. She hadn't expected anything else to happen tonight and the fact that _something_ was happening drew all her thoughts into focus.

She didn't care that this place was semi public. She didn't care about anything except his skin against hers and the promise of him inside of her. She knew in some part of her mind that it would hurt but only her mind could comprehend that. Her body anticipated only the fulfillment of a compulsion that had nothing to do with pleasure though they always seemed to occur together.

"What do you want ma chere?" He asked her in a whisper.

She could only answer "You." And that was enough for him to reach between them and unbutton her jeans. She helped him kick them off and then slid her hands under the waist of his slacks while he loosened them. He pulled her shirt up and kissed the ribs just below her bra, then removed that as well, unhooking it and pulling it off when he pulled her shirt over her head. It was the reversal of seven hours ago when he had been the one naked and she clothed. Now he pressed down on her almost entirely dressed while all her skin soaked in the perfumed air.

He kissed her on the mouth as before, slid his hand down her abdomen and fondled her as he'd done back in his apartment. When he slipped a finger inside of her she gasped and flexed her hips involuntarily. He kept kissing her until he began to push a second finger into her…then he watched her like a cat watches a mouse.

She moaned quietly, embarrassed that someone might hear. When he surprised her with a quick thrust she let out a sharp little yelp.

He stilled.

"Shhhhhhh." He whispered in her ear and withdrew his hand. It left her desperately wanting but a moment later she felt the head of his cock gliding up and down between her labia guided by his hand, spreading her body's slickness over him. He pushed forward and the head of it slipped in without any sort of discomfort. She was relieved, but the sensation of size compared to his fingers made her apprehensive about whatever would come next.

He repositioned himself delicately, snaking one arm behind her neck and the other on her hip. It placed his head above hers which seemed strange to her. When he surged slowly forward she found the need to cry out in surprise and a little pain which only increased as he pushed himself further inside of her. He paused for a moment to kiss her hair and she thought he had invaded her as far as he could.

"You ok?" He asked.

She quickly nodded and smiled at him reassuringly.

He bent his head down and pressed into her again and there was more, more, and more. Was it an illusion caused by the pain that his cock seemed to go on forever?

Finally she felt the full press of his body, his pubic bone against hers, and he slowly withdrew careful not to jar her with anything sudden. When he rolled forward again she buried her face in his shirt and cried out, and cried out again with every slow and measured thrust.

Someone in the lounge dropped a glass and it shattered, the sound reminding her there were others nearby that could hear her if she was too loud…who would see her…who would know. She gritted her teeth determined to be quiet.

It hurt, badly. She felt opened up and exposed in a way that she had not imagined…full and subjugated and strangely humiliated…no doubt the vestiges of religious teaching long since forgotten. But oh how she wanted it. She bit back the word 'stop' and forced herself to take it all, pain and pleasure, for as long as she could, both relishing and fearing each stroke.

He was obviously trying not to hurt her but eventually he quickened his pace and she could hear his heavy breath in her ears. Tears formed in her eyes and were soaked up by his shirt, smearing the tiny bit of mascara she wore. His last few thrusts, restrained as they were, still felt brutal to her and he buried himself in her one last time as he came. The muscular spasms of his cock were a kind of prize she felt she'd earned. She smiled into his chest and gently sobbed. Her legs shook perceptibly and would not seem to stop no matter how much she willed them to.

When he lifted up on his arms to look at her she could see a bead of sweat on his temple. He kissed her lips and felt the tremble in them. When he looked at her again he looked concerned, and she could tell he wanted to say something but wouldn't.

"I'm fine." She volunteered.

"Chere." He said in a sad tone.

"I'm fine."

He said nothing, but slowly pulled out of her noticing when she winced then rolled off to her side tucking her into a spoon and setting the bottom of his chin on the top of her head. They both lay there silently for a few minutes with arms entwined, and after a while she dozed off. When she awoke there was a blanket over her and she blushed to think how it had gotten there. Remy sat on the edge of the ottoman looking into the fire, which she decided at this point must be a hologram. She sat up and wrapped the thin wool blanket around her. The smell of a strange smoke hung in the air.

"Remy?"

He turned and smiled at her.

"Morning, chere."

"What time is it?" she said a little groggy.

"4:00AM."

"Jesus! Should we get home…aren't they closed?"

"They don't close." He stood up and handed her clothes to her.

"Weird," she mumbled under her breath as she took them

"You wanna go home and sleep?" He asked without any apparent agenda of his own.

"Yeah." She rubbed her eyes and started getting dressed, careful of her modesty which was ridiculous given what she had just done.

They emerged back onto the street and the night was glorious…a cool summer breeze with the salty humidity of the ocean hit her face. She took a deep breath of the fresh air and contemplated the fact that she was no longer a virgin.

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Kurt knocked but no one answered. Fair enough. He took a round fob out of his pocket and held it up to the electronic lock. It beeped for a few seconds until the latch clicked. He pushed down the handle and the door opened a few inches before being stopped by some interior locking mechanism, which implied that someone was home, and if they were home and didn't answer something might be wrong…besides, he was too irritated to shout to be noticed, So he reared back and kicked as hard as he could. There was a loud crack and the door swung open without further trouble.

He looked through apartment and found no one, which was puzzling. Then out of the corner of his eye he saw Anna's overnight bag, half picked over. He crouched down and double checked the luggage tag on it just to confirm his suspicions. _Anna Marie Darkholme_ , it said shamelessly. Then, as if to add insult to injury, his eyes skimmed over a lacey pair of underwear on the floor. His hands clenched and unclenched and he practically snarled at the empty air. He liked Remy…he really did, or he had. But he never thought Remy would run off with his sister to fuck around in New Madripoor and he didn't know what other conclusion to draw from this evidence.

He paced the whole apartment over and over wondering if they would return soon or if he was wasting his time. What if they weren't even out? What if they were…what…dead?...hiding? Of course they were out. He just had to wait for them.

He opened the refrigerator and helped himself to a drink, then watched the starts through the sliding glass window. When he checked his watch again it was 5:00AM. He was tired, and hungry, but he was also pissed. He went back to the fridge and pulled out a jar of peanut butter.

 _Who the fuck keeps peanut butter in the refrigerator?_

He scooped out a spoonful and leaned on the short end of the kitchen bar. A few moments later he heard footsteps in the hallway that slowed and fell silent as they approached the door.

 _Finally_

He twirled his spoon in his hand and looked at the door. Slowly it pivoted on its hinges until he could see one of Remy's eyes. Kurt looked back with a hostile stare and Remy simply pushed the door open with a sort of disappointed twist in his lip.

"Kurt." He said neutrally.

Kurt did not return the greeting.

"Where's Anna?" He asked.

"She's here." He motioned to someone further down the hall and Anna appeared.

"What the fuck Kurt!"

"Whatever Anna!…there was a recall and you…one of like four people with a subspace phone, can't even be bothered to fucking answer?"

"Why was there a recall? Why did you break in?" She would have shouted if she hadn't been so confused.

"Because I was worried about you!" He raised his voice even more.

Under the circumstances, it was probably the worst thing he could've said. Her anger flared.

"I can take care of myself! For Fucks sake Kurt, I'm not a god damn child! Who do you think you are…Jesus Christ!"

The effort required for Kurt to be silent in response to her statement was obvious to all, and it made his sudden calm afterwards unsettling.

"Well." He went on, "Maybe that's true, but you're not the only reason I'm here." There was a curious pause, and he turned to Remy with a frosty glare. "Raven wants to hire you…. _Gambit_."

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Please Review.


	8. Chapter 8

Wow...it's been over a year since this was last updated. I swear I will finish this story if it's the last thing I do. Thank you to those of you who have stuck with it. I hope you enjoy it.

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Emma was in Tenz, they had said. What was there in Tenz?

Raven tapped on her phone and began a cursory search.

 _\- How big is too big? Shipbuilding industry supports food transport barges, but also yachts for the ultra-rich._

 _\- Farms make way for celebrity homes._

An interesting demographic shift happening right under her nose. But Jura was an agricultural preserve. She made sure of it. She had laws passed that made it painfully difficult to maintain residence on this planet. Her planet. What "celebrities" were moving here?

She typed out another search. Several starlets had acquired enough wealth to purchase visas and build their second homes atop the rolling foothills next to the coast. But one headline stood out like a neon sign.

 _-Security firm mogul builds fortress overlooking Tenz._

She clicked on the seedy link of a local information outlet and read: _Sebastian Shaw, CFO of the only standing army in a zillion lightyears, has finally acquired controlling interest in the publicly traded security firm, known as Dark Star. His first move? To Jura, Tenz specifically, and why not. He is merely the latest addition in high profile residents in the foothills. Larren D'Shaville, the infamous playboy and onetime basketball player first popularized the bucolic hills by the sea when he moved to the upper strand with his mistress twelve years ago. Since that time the economy has steadily grown as demand for local services and luxury products has skyrocketed._

It could be a coincidence. It could be a lot of things. Clearly Tenz was a nascent vacation destination that a workaholic like Raven would not be keyed into. Shaw had homes all over, this was perhaps his twentieth…and yet…she recalled a long past conversation…

 _Emma sat across from her and lay down the first white stone._

" _I have been thinking for some time that our influence has stalled?"_

 _Raven, bent over the board with her face in her palms, looked up sharply. "Oh?"_

 _Emma cleared her throat. "I think that KAS is large enough to have gained the notice of Dark Star's shareholders who may seek to obstruct continued growth."_

 _Raven lay down her stone with a decisive thwack. "Do you think so? KAS is only a hundred thousand…Dark Star is millions."_

" _They have retained hegemony not by reacting to threats but by preventing threats from forming."_

 _Well that was certainly true. Raven nodded in solemn agreement, but still…"We have not even considered bidding on government contracts…I cannot imagine that we have displaced their private sector market. They barely have a footprint there anyways. The overhead is too high…as Oyama well knows."_

" _Is it not better to integrate with them on our terms…when we are stronger they will negotiate more aggressively and they will take more pains to dismantle our command structures."_

 _Raven bowed her head more deeply to hide her scowl. To approach Dark Star was a faulty strategy. They would offer more favorable terms if they themselves were forced to approach…however, they could not be allowed to shuffle the deck too thoroughly._

" _To seek integration now would effectively mean dissolution. They would not allow any command structures to remain intact, regardless of when we integrate."_

" _That is a matter of negotiating don't you think?" Said Emma laying down another white stone._

 _Raven bent over the playing field and furrowed her brow._

 _._

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Remy sat, threw his feet up on the coffee table, and spread his arms out along the back of the couch. Great pains had been taken to make this place seem like an old world library to include a holographic fire place and thick curtains hung merely to give the impression that they concealed windows instead of cinderblock walls. Even the humidity was controlled to imitate the atmosphere above ground when he knew full well he was deep underneath it. It was also dim in a way that he found rather pleasant but strange given the fact that it was in fact a library. Had he not been so tired he might have checked to see if the books were real…surely he was cynical enough for that.

The metal doors creaked open and then drifted closed with a clang. Heeled shoes clicked briskly toward him and a sable haired woman in a sharp looking suit came into view. Her posture and demeanor were self-assured enough to command a certain respect and he rebelled from that impression by maintaining his casual pose and smiling at her with a touch of overfamiliarity.

It didn't faze her in the slightest and for a moment he second guessed himself.

"Mr. Le Beau." She greeted him by his name, bright eyed and curious.

Something seemed wrong. It was she who seemed over familiar and he suppressed a thin vein of anxiety.

She spread her fingers over her heart and nodded in a manner that would have been respectful from anyone else. "I am Raven Darkholm."

"Nice to meet you." He said neutrally without rising but utterly failing in his desired affect.

"Hmm…" she made the same humming noise as the casino waitress and it was…strange. Then she sat down on the couch across form him. "I assume Kurt told you that I would like to purchase your services and I assume you were at least interested in this proposal, otherwise you would not have made the journey."

"Well, I was at least curious enough t' hear your pitch." He lowered his hands and crossed them over his chest, embarrassed that he felt the need to adopt more defensive body language.

"Of course…at the moment my offer is fairly simple. You will remain on retainer whether here in Jura or at your apartment in Madripoor. I do not care. We are willing to pay you a substantial salary of Œ120,000 per annum."

"You think you're gonna need me a whole year?" His surprise was obvious and he figured that his own exhaustion was working against him.

"I am willing to pay you for a year in the eventuality that I need you for a year."

He was tired and he wanted this over with. As long as she wasn't making him sign anything he didn't suppose it mattered... "What do you need from me."

She produced a data stick from thin air and slid it half way across the table. "Here is some orientation information as well as your first assignment dealing with your young friend Ororo." She thought she saw him jolt just the tiniest bit when she said the name but she continued on. "Kurt will take you to an apartment you may use while in Jura as soon as we are done here."

Slowly he uncurled himself and leaned forward to take it. She was a predator and he was conscious not to appear weak, but he kept his eyes on her. She saw his wary suspicion and smiled.

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Kurt drove him about a mile east of the airfield, but Remy was too distracted to say anything. He knew he was in the dark about something, and it both irritated and intrigued him. Ever since he'd met Anna things had been a little too interesting but Raven's hinting had put a hook in his subconscious. The Rora thing was just an opportunity for awkward sentimentalism turned obligation. His feelings were mixed. All else equal he supposed he'd like to see her well cared for, but he didn't want to be instructed to do so if it came to that.

The car finally stopped outside a low slung 2 story row of apartments. Kurt stared ahead white knuckling the steering wheel. Remy waited for him to either come up with some words or get over his mood.

"So you and Anna, huh?" He finally spit out more neutrally than either of them had anticipated.

"Looks that way, homme." Remy replied casually in an attempt to lighten the mood.

There was a short pause where Kurt nodded a little and thought, he still hadn't uncurled his fingers from the steering wheel.

"How well do you think you know her?" There was no hostility in his voice though the words themselves seemed like they should be hostile, implying yet again that he didn't know the whole story.

"Well…by the sound of it Kurt, not well enough." He kept the edge out of his voice but just barely. It was too fucking late to have this conversation whatever it meant. The sun was already above the horizon and he wanted none of it.

Kurt turned his head to look at him. "What has she told you about herself?'

Remy was getting pissed. It had been another 48 hour day ending in a royal mind fuck. Now he was meters away from a warm bed and getting bombarded by strangely personal questions from the brother of the woman he slept with not more than 6 hours ago. It was too bizarre.

"Listen Kurt, I can't do this right now." He opened the car door and levered himself and his bag halfway out of it.

"It's not really fair if you don't know."

That gave him pause.

"What's not fair."

Kurt looked pained when he opened his mouth to speak but then closed it. He licked his lips and came to a decision.

"Just get some rest. We can talk about it later."

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Anna sat at her kitchen table and crushed a .1mg tablet of carfodyne with the blunt end of a butter knife. She was mortified, and she vacillated between blaming herself and blaming Raven. The world was complicated, and Raven was always protecting her…wasn't that it? It seemed that way a few months ago. It had seemed that way for years. But a few weeks off of Solian and things just seemed different. The unfathomable universe seemed less frightening. Choices seemed less daunting. She was making connections, taking chances that she hadn't in years and it felt amazing…until it didn't. And now this embarrassment…old Anna would have blamed her choices. New Anna didn't think so simplistically. But New Anna was still humiliated and she knew what would take away the pain. She laid out the powdered pill in a thin line and looked for a piece of paper to roll up but could find nothing. In desperation she pressed her face to the table and messily snorted her rail of narcotic.

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please review


	9. Chapter 9

Time for my annual update!

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Raven walked through the doors as if in a dream. Nur was there, sitting behind his desk the way a mountain sits behind foothills and low slung clouds. She did not even bother to remind herself that such sentiments were illusory.

"Chairman Nur." She said politely, inclining her head.

"Ms. Darkholm", he said and gestured to a seat.

She sat, slowly, careful of her every mannerism.

He breathed in once, then began…"KAS has been the subject of much discussion lately."

There was a pause, as if he expected her to say something. His words were not unexpected… But still, they needled her.

"Oh, I did not realize…"

"Your organization has a brilliant reputation - surely you would realize it would come to my attention."

She felt an expression forming on her face and quickly stifled it.

"I am surprised because KAS is so small compared to Dark Star and we have vied for no Union contracts."

"KAS is 66,000 souls and the line between the Union and its constituent entities is…poorly defined."

Raven nodded but did not have a retort.

Nur continued, "It is recommended that KAS be nationalized…"

"I agree." She rushed to say, false excitement sweeping over her, words falling from her lips that she had not formed in her mind. "A single military is a threat to the administration. A parallel force will secure your office."

Nur, at first irritated at the interruption, became still and looked at her carefully.

"Do you think Dark Star is a threat to me?"

"Now that you have lost controlling interest, most certainly. Merely think of the amount of weight that you must give to the desires of Buckman, Shaw, Essex…all the board members."

She was maneuvering in broad daylight, or the spirit that possessed her was.

"And what is your recommendation?"

"As you said, nationalize KAS, purchase stock in the company with Union funds." They were both aware of her perversion of the word but Nur did not care. She was right, and he had felt safe for so long he had ignored one of his first principle _s_ :

 _Power proceeds from the barrel of a gun._

...

When she left the office she floated. When she looked at the staffers at their desks she smiled at them through a haze of euphoria, so deep it almost made her tired. Was she dreaming? How could she feel this relaxed?

In the elevator her phone chimed, and she answered it without any sense of urgency whatsoever.

"Hello Douglas."

"Ma'am, I just saw a forty trillion credit transfer go through."

"Yes, that's right."

There was a pause on the line.

"Alright, I just wanted to inform you."

"Thank you, I'm aware."

With that she hung up and continued in bliss, out onto the square of the capital complex.

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Anna awoke with a start.

"Hello." She called out but there was no answer. She walked cautiously out of her room and onto the walkway but saw no one. Then again, she heard a clank in the back of the ship and it startled her.

"Hello" she called out again…a little afraid, but this time a voice answered back.

"Hello?"

She hurried to the sound of the voice and found a mousy little mechanic tinkering away at one of the transformers.

"What the Fuck!"

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I didn't want to wake you up. It's scheduled maintenance and I have the codes, so I just let myself in."

"What scheduled maintenance?"

"Look on the calendar."

The girl seemed a little scared and Anna went obligingly to the net console to pull up the scheduled maintenance calendar.

"There's nothing here."

"It must be a mistake…Logan gave me the codes himself."

Anna was overtly suspicious and balled her hands into fists.

"Do you know how many ships this flight line can accommodate?" She uttered one of her duress phrases. The answer was 147 but the mechanic would have to say otherwise.

"I think it's 132"

Anna blinked, and blinked again. She uncurled her fists.

"So few? It seems like more." She went on methodically, playing out the string of secret phrases meant to sound like conversation.

"I'm almost certain it's 132."

Anna nodded and walked away. She went to the cockpit and texted Logan, knowing in her gut something was not quite right.

 _Is there maintenance today?_

He did not write back immediately, and she began to sweat. She went back into the bay, back to the transformer to look for the technician but she was gone. She had failed to catch her name. But then she second guessed herself again.

 _Was she real?_

Sweat covered her face and she went to the bathroom, anxious that someone might be lurking nearby. When she had hallucinations in the past, before the Solian, they had seemed very real, but there was always something off about them. Something to give away the fact that they were creations of her mind. This felt off in that same way. Real but not real. True and false. At the very least there were no voices now. So many voices in her mind, talking to each other...talking to her. That was gone, and as long as it was gone she considered herself cured. The cold water ran over her for a few minutes and when she stepped out again she was calm.

The transformer sat where it always had, untouched. She would say nothing more of this to Logan, or to anyone.

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Raven looked contentedly at her accounts, but it was burn down money and she knew that much was expected of her in return. The first people she would need were administrators to build the various programs, and file architectures to manage a force that would rival Dark Star. Emma was an obvious choice but she carried a cloud over her these days. A suspicion that Raven could not quite shake. No matter, Raven knew many with the talent necessary to serve her and Emma would be kept within reach.

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Please Review


	10. Chapter 10

Thank you to Ludi and Ptolemais for their insight and inspiration.

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Raven's office in the capitol was her grandest by far. Tall windows gave a view of the ocean where it converged with a range of mountains running east to west. The sunsets were spectacular. In truth she wanted to spend most of her time here, close to her allies and enemies, close to splendor and wealth, close to the seat of power.

Her joy over the meeting with Nur had not dissipated, even after sending out job offers to her chosen officers. Even after transferring a trillion credits to the recruiting department and watching the shocked communiques roll in. Union funding dwarfed Oyama's admittedly generous patronage…did she still need to keep her promises to him? To make him a cabinet member somehow… With Nur's ear it could be done, if there were an opening.

Too much navel gazing was a waste of time. Where were the ships, the ammunition, the troops, the uniforms, the rations, the fuel, the nuts and bolts of a military…haha…a security firm. First those things must be in place.

Her daydreaming was cut short as her doors burst open and Buckman stormed through.

"Darkholm!"

She stood quickly. "You can't just barge in here…"

"Clearly I can."

"What do you want you fucking sod."

"I know what you're doing!" He yelled as he stomped forward.

"What am I doing?" She bit back derisively. "Protecting Nur from you?"

He sneered, his rage blinding him to the realization that the game he was playing here was now clearly a dangerous one.

"You conniving bitch. You'd be happy to be rid of Nur, don't pretend this is for his benefit. You are only aligned with him because it rescues your petty cash cow from becoming part of Dark Star."

She sat down and glared at him across the room. "Why does it bother you that KAS will be expanding? Do you think it threatens your funding?"

"That is beside the point."

"Then what is the point? Are you personally offended that Nur doesn't trust you and your cronies to be the sole guardians of the government? Or are you simply saddened by the fact that it dilutes your influence?"

Everything she said was true and he was on fire with hatred. She could feel it, curling off of him like smoke.

"I don't trust you Raven, not as far as I can throw you. I certainly do not trust you with classified information, or with the security contracts for the Union's largest operations." Trust was a strange misnomer. He knew she was capable…but he needed a reason to discredit her and this was the best he could do at the moment. Not that it mattered. There was no one to hear his tirade but the recording devices he assumed were hidden in her office. "Rest assured that I will see you crucified the first time your outfit botches a mission. Even the appearance of weakness erodes the legitimacy of the government."

"What nonsense this is."

He straightened his shirt and looked at her a beat.

"I'll be watching you Raven." And with that he turned and marched out just as he had entered. As he left, her quaking secretary peered in.

"Ma'am, I'm…I'm sorry…he just…" She stuttered.

Raven wanted to fire her. She was so incensed, but she took a breath and then another, and she remembered that this particular problem was soon to be dealt with.

"It's fine Margo…go back to your desk."

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Kurt walked up the ramp where Anna was already waiting for him.

"So, station 8." She said casually.

"Ja." He smiled at her.

"I always feel like something is going down when I take you to station 8."

They turned together and walked into the interior as the ramp closed.

"Well, something's always going down isn't it?"

She laughed and turned toward the cockpit stairs. When they were both buckled in and past the atmosphere, Kurt thought about what he wanted to say. She seemed in good spirits and he wondered if anything even needed to be said at all.

"Listen, Anna…"

It sounded serious and she rolled her head toward him with comical trepidation.

"I just want to apologize for how things happened in New Madripoor."

"It's fine Kurt."

"It's not fine." He said with enough firmness to make her furrow her brow. "I know you know I was just worried about you…"

"No, I deserved it. There was a recall, a real one, and I didn't answer."

"There's more than that." He could sense how tense she became when he said it but he continued. "You're right, you're a grown woman and you can chose your own company. You've been…better for years now. You've been as reliable as clockwork…until Remy."

"You mean _Gambit_." She scoffed under her breath. "You think he's making me…unreliable."

"I think he's making you take risks you wouldn't otherwise take."

She thought about that a moment and wondered if it were him, or the fact that she was off the Solian. Or perhaps it was just her own personal rebellion.

"You blame him for me missing the recall but it was my fault. You should blame me. I made a mistake and I don't know why the fact that I was out with Remy has anything to do with it. If you were out with someone and you forgot your phone when there was a recall, Raven would blame you…no one else. Why does it matter that I was with anyone? And I'll just answer you right there too…because of my history right? Because deep down you still think I'm unstable, that I'm gonna have a psychotic episode any second."

"It's not that, Anna, otherwise Raven wouldn't trust you with these missions and this ship."

"She trusts me because she trusts me. Trust is a feeling, nothing more. And I've more than earned it over the past decade haven't I? I took the pills, I saw the specialists, I…I did the shock therapy, everything that was asked of me. And I admitted it. I admitted it was all in my head, all the voices…"

"Anna, please calm down."

"…All the 'connections' were just paranoid delusions. I copped to it all. I obeyed like a dog and…" She started to choke up and locked her gaze onto the stars. "…I live for Raven, and she knows it. That's why she trusts me. What if I lived for someone else? Or worse, myself?"

Kurt was silent a moment.

"I'm really just trying to apologize. Maybe you're just my sister and I don't want some guy taking advantage of you."

"He didn't take advantage of me, we had sex."

"Wunderbar." He muttered in defeat. He knew what they had done, but he didn't want to hear it from her lips. He slumped in his chair. "Anna." He continued, "I want peace between us?"

He sounded forlorn and it made her look at him again.

"Are you ok, Kurt?"

"I just want you to believe that I care about you, and Remy in your life makes me nervous. It doesn't have to be more than that. And I mean it", he raised his voice a little. "…It has nothing to do with your 'history'. Remy's charming and any brother would be anxious for his sister around him. But, as you said, you're an adult." There was a brief pause and he went on. "If you're so bitter about 'living for Raven', why don't you do something else. Go back to school or something you want to do."

There was an idea. Just leave.

Just…leave.

Kurt let her chew on that for a minute then got up. "I'm going to make some coffee, do you want any?"

"Yeah, please."

He went to the kitchen and found the coffee powder, scooped a generous helping into two cups and filled them from the hot water tap. On his way out he saw a pile of foodstuff queued in the trash compactor. Bread, oranges, nutrient bars, rice. All untouched and unopened by the looks of it. When he returned he handed her a cup.

"Why's all that food in the trash?"

"Oh…it smelled funny."

"All of it? Like what?"

"I don't know, it just smelled…contaminated."

A fraction of a second passed before he hurriedly changed the subject and he hoped she had not noticed the pause.

At the nearest opportunity he excused himself and went to his room to think. It was almost exactly ten years ago to the day that Anna had been committed. They had found her in a utility closet pulling her teeth out with a pair of pliers. The voices in her head had been urging her to do it for some time because her teeth were contaminated, and if she didn't remove them the contamination would spread to her whole body and she would die in some horrible way. So she had finally listened to them, she had finally fully bought into her delusions, and taken a pair of needle nose pliers to her upper left incisor. She'd screamed of course and that gave it all away, but by the time someone had got to her she had pulled out three teeth and arranged them neatly on the floor. She was going at the fourth when Sage had smacked the pliers out of her hand and dragged her by the ankle out of the closet.

It wasn't until she'd received therapy that Kurt had understood her illness. Advertisements for toothpaste were secretly talking to her. The scrolling menu in the cafeteria had a code in it, meant just for her. She had certainly withdrawn since Cody had died but it was not because of sadness. It was confusion, paranoia, and a belief that there were messages hidden in plain sight telling her of some insidious infection hounding her. A belief that she was being watched. Hallucinations of not just voices but sensations. She would feel a touch on her shoulder and turn to see no one there, or a stranger conjured by her mind. Whole conversations she would have with these imaginary people.

Raven availed herself and Anna of every remedy yet known, including micro shocks to specific brain regions administered with surgical probes. She had invested in promising gene therapy research as well, but before Anna could be a guinea pig in human trials she'd seemed to recover. After shock therapy, and on a new drug, she'd gathered her wits. Therapists were very happy with her progress and after a year of treatment and observation she'd seemed normal, though somehow muted. Less bold than she was as a child. Less headstrong. And Raven didn't mind that at all.

Kurt took a walk around the ship looking for other signs of her returning illness. Everything seemed in perfect order until he came to an exposed transformer wrapped with duct tape. There was no telling what the explanation for this could be. The transformer could be 'contaminated' or some imaginary boogie man was trying to tamper with it. He glanced up at the cockpit to make sure that she did not see him making this discovery, and he snapped a picture of it with his phone, than another of the food in the compactor. He texted Raven the images and returned to Anna with a heavy heart.

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Please Review


	11. Chapter 11

Thank you to Ludi, my amazing beta, who actually wrote parts of this. And thenk you to everyone who has read and commented over the years. I'm sorry the installments are so far apart.

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Early in the morning Rora walked far from the house, out into the green wheat, and looked at the clouds. She liked it here, and much as Logan had hinted…stated…that he would take her away or have someone come get her, she knew she wasn't leaving.

The wind picked up when she stepped onto the plain and it had a perfect speed and rhythm to it. It would blow and subside, blow and subside, so that the wheat lolled like ocean waves. It felt like breath to her. Nothing but rolling grass as far as the eye could see. Nothing but earth and sky.

She saw Logan watching her from a distance, but he did not bother her. It had been a day since she'd woken up and foolishly stuttered out everything she knew about herself. But here, in the fields and in the arms of the wind, she didn't need to know anything. Everything was simply as it should be.

When she went back to the house he was there with a beer in hand, watching soccer. She looked at him and he looked at her. When she had first awoken she had been on edge, not herself. Now she felt balanced and had no compunction simply asking, "Will you walk with me Logan?"

He stared at her a moment, surprised, but he nodded yes and slowly rose from his chair, following her out the door with his beer.

"Aren't you hungry?" He was genuinely curious. She'd been out all day and hadn't eaten as far as he could tell.

"Yes." She said simply.

They walked another hundred meters out and she turned to him at last.

"What do you feel when you stand out here?"

He took a drink from his bottle and looked around. "The wind is acting up, could be another storm."

The answer somehow vexed her. "Isn't there anything else?"

He looked at her, a little annoyed. "Like what?"

She thought for a moment. "What makes you live out here if not the…beauty?"

He took a deep breath and looked again at the dimming horizon as the fragmented clouds sailed over them, orange and purple and pink. It was beautiful at times like this, but he did not want to say so.

"Solitude." He said finally and took another drink. She could sense a deep pain in him, the way he said it, and she understood.

"Yes." She pulled a stalk of wheat up and examined the grains. "Yes, I can see that."

They looked together at the place where the sunlight still warmed the sky and Logan finally spoke.

"I'll take you back in the morning, but you should get some food now."

"I don't want to go back. I'll stay here." There was no pleading. Just a statement. As though it would cause no inconvenience, no complication.

The word 'No' rose to his lips but he never said it. He just turned around and walked back to the house, and after the sun went down and the sky turned blue-black, she followed.

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Remy woke in the morning as the sun was coming up. He had gone to bed around noon and slept the day and night away. He was a little amazed actually. It was not normal for him to need so much sleep, certainly not continuously. His guileful and often nocturnal life required him to watch his back, and he would usually wake up several times in the night.

He headed to the roof of his apartment complex to smoke and think about his situation. He had grown a little bored in Madripoor and even though things were awkward as they stood with Anna and her relations, there was a certain mystery to it all that held his interest. For one thing there had been a lot of money. For another, no contracts, which should have been a red flag to anyone but him. Whatever it was Raven wanted done, she wanted him off the books. The upside of course was, if he didn't like whatever was on the stick, he could simply walk away.

Ah yes…the stick. He finished his cigarette in no particular hurry and climbed down off the roof. Inside his apartment he dug in his duffle bag and pulled out his tablet case. He placed the data stick on the back of the tablet and it held magnetically. Three files appeared on the menu. 'Historical Documents', 'Black Womb', and 'Assignment'. He tapped on the file that said 'Assignment'. There was a set of coordinates and a line: 'Go to the listed location for transport. Once at destination, courier goods back to HQ.' The paragraph ended.

He laughed out loud.

 _Anna, what is this spy shit your momma wants?_

He tapped on the file that said 'historical documents' and row after row of files named by date populated his screen. He tapped on one and some very dry sounding meeting notes appeared. He backed out of the file and set the tablet aside. It would take a long time to work through this stuff and he need to do a couple of other things first. Like acquire some transportation.

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He glanced down at the coordinates on his phone and frowned.

Either this wasn't right, or Raven was playing some game, but he was back at the airfield and this looked suspiciously familiar.

Right on cue he saw the Rogue begin to make her descent onto the tarmac, and he pulled a wry little face, his stance loosening up as he realized: _Raven is playin' some game._

It took a while for the ship to land, and while he was waiting he reread his assignment.

 _Courier goods back to HQ_.

He had to admit, he was curious… but less curious than he was about Anna's role in all this. If he was honest his mind was on her, and it hadn't escaped his notice that something about where things stood between them felt glaringly _unfinished._

They hadn't really talked since the Princess, and he was eager to pick up where they'd left off… except he wasn't sure that she was ready for the kind of 'picking up' he wanted. She'd seemed so … fragile, somehow, and he'd wanted to touch base with her on it after the fact, except that they had been interrupted by Kurt, and everything since then had been left up in the air.

The Rogue had finally taxied to her hanger and the ramp slowly lowered. He was hardly surprised when Anna appeared.

"Hey Chere." he called out to her as he walked up to meet her on the tarmac.

She stopped a second and lifted a hand, shielding her eyes from the sun. She knew it was him, but it was like she couldn't quite believe it. Okay, so Raven hadn't warned her about his role in this. That was interesting, and in ways he wasn't sure he liked.

"Remy." She was smiling as she finally came level with him, obviously happy to see him. "I can't talk right now, I'm sorry. I'm supposed to be meeting someone for work."

"I think that's me. Your momma didn't tell you?" he asked, genuinely shocked. Her mouth came together in a pout that immediately set his pulse racing.

"Raven doesn't always tell me everything," she replied. "But I'm not sure why she wouldn't mention you were my pick up. Show me your instructions."

He pulled out the data stick and attached it to the back of his phone. She read the sparse instructions and shrugged, seeming to get over it pretty quickly. It was interesting to him, primarily because he knew that if he was in her position he wouldn't be quite so casual about being in the dark.

What was Raven playing at, he wondered? Putting them together like this? He was sure she was used to moving people around like chess pieces, and now he was one of them. Fine, he could play at that for 120K credits. For a while.

"C'mon," Anna was saying, and he followed her up the ramp.

He followed her to the cockpit and sat in the copilot's seat next to her. She spun up the engines and began pulling forward back onto the runway. He didn't talk to her. It looked like whatever she was doing required some concentration and he knew in a few minutes they would be on autopilot. He watched her a little in his periphery, her movements so well practiced they looked bored and automatic. It was kinda hot if he was honest with himself.

They lifted off and the sensation of being pressed into the seat grew and grew until it was a little uncomfortable. It continued until the cockpit windshield was bathed in blue-orange fire as they tore through the atmosphere. He felt like he was floating for a moment before the artificial gravity kicked in with a sort of leveling out sensation.

Anna sat, watching space come at her. She seemed almost in another world and he hesitated a moment, wondering how to pick up where they had left off. His mind was still on what had happened at the Princess, and he had no idea where her headspace was at right now.

She had to be feeling some kind of way about this. He'd taken her virginity after all, and it was something he'd instinctively wanted to avoid because of all the complications that came with it, but… She seemed almost unconcerned. It bothered him more than he liked to admit.

"So where are we goin' if you don't mind my asking?"

"St. Francis of Assisi Hospital. We're picking someone up."

"Why do you need me for that?"

She tilted her head a little and the look on her face implied a level of shadiness he was entirely comfortable with.

"Is that not in your notes?"

"Non."

"Funny…let me look at mine again." She pulled out her phone and tapped on a bit. Her brow furrowed. "She keeps calling him a patient, makes sense, maybe he physically can't walk or something and we need to help him."

He wanted to stop her right there and ask her why she seemed ok with all this… but then, hadn't he functioned the same way working for Dark Star? Following vague orders and mysterious directions. Secret operations were planned by the people at the top and if too many of the people at the bottom knew the whole picture then there wasn't really a secret anymore. But that was a life he had escaped from, at great personal cost, and the fact that working for Raven was shaping up to be the same, or at least similar, left an acrid taste in his mouth. Perhaps Anna had not been asked to do the types of things that he had. Almost certainly. Perhaps that's why she didn't seem bothered by the opaque nature of her work. And then, as though she could sense his discomfort, she asked him;

"Does it bother you not to know?"

He was a little embarrassed at being read, but he replied quickly "A little bit, yeah."

"She's trying to protect us."

He smirked to himself, "I mean, that's one way to look at it."

"You think this is part of some evil plot." She looked at him sideways.

"Probably." He smiled to keep the mood light and it worked. She laughed.

"I don't think Raven's evil."

Faith. Well that was one thing he never had in Dark Star, or the Union, or anyone apart from Jean Luc and the guild. He expected if he pressed her too far he would hear the words _greater good_ come out of her mouth sooner or later. The way they had come out of Essex's mouth so many times. He bitterly remembered the day he rigged a thousand tonnes of explosives to 'clear' Izmar. He remembered there was some grander design behind it all but if he was honest with himself he did it because he was getting paid a lot of money, and because he didn't really know what else there was out there for him. And then, in the midst of all the ash and smoke, with the wails of the dispossessed rising from the distant trees where some had escaped to, he saw a single child's shoe…and a switch flipped in his mind, the weight of the atrocity began to slowly descend. It would take years to fully feel it, but just then he turned and went back to the transport ship that had ferried them there. Victor smacked him on the back and smiled and seemed confused when he had responded tepidly.

"Men do all kinds of bad shit when they don't know the details," he said tonelessly.

She stifled a laugh.

"Is that what you're afraid of?" She asked him with obvious sarcasm. "Doing something bad?"

He gave her a sly look, happy that she was relaxed enough to play with him, a little sad that she thought he was entirely without scruples.

"Not really."

"I didn't think so." She grinned and started to get up. "C'mon, let's get coffee."

He followed her to the kitchen and watched her. She was charmingly self-conscious now that she wasn't flying. She would nervously tuck her hair behind her ear or clear her throat when she didn't know what to say. Signs he knew how to read all too well.

"How long is this flight?" He asked her off-handed as she filled a cup with hot water.

"No jump gate, so 3 hours or so." She passed him the cup.

He stepped a little closer to her and took it. Close enough that she caught the hint and looked up at him. "You got any ideas how you wanna pass the time?" He said with just the barest trace of suggestion in it.

She smiled and blushed and stood her ground. "I have some ideas." She bantered back shyly and took a sip of her coffee. A little too smooth for the Anna he thought he knew, but he was liking this dynamic at the moment and he rolled with it, even though he liked her enough that he felt the urge to warn her. To tell her he was a monster. But he didn't because she was beautiful, because she smelled good, and because she was hypnotizing him somehow.

He sipped his coffee once and set it back down, then leaned against the edge of the counter facing her with body language he hoped would invite her to touch him. Hands curled around the ledge, relaxed. He could see her thinking about it, holding her coffee cup in front of her like a shield.

"What are your ideas, p'tit?" He prompted softly, with a wicked smile.

She put her coffee down on the counter beside him then, with endearing uncertainly, she raised her hand and placed it over his heart.

He felt frozen. Like he was swimming in honey. It was hard for him to move his arms to embrace her because the gesture was somehow too real, too…sweet. It reminded him of Belle and he hated that he thought of her just then, but that touch…that kind of touch. He missed it.

She looked at him and he looked at her and neither knew what to say. She blinked as if coming to her senses and pulled back, but he grabbed her wrist.

"Non." He placed her hand back over his heart, but the moment was changed. He reached up and pulled her close to hide his embarrassment at being so entranced. He smoothed his face along her neck and felt her body melt into his. By the time he kissed her she was entirely willing, a realization that normally felt like a victory but now felt like…nothing, not even shame, because he felt himself pulled along by the same current. The same current that had washed him into Belle's arms.

He shook the thought away and kissed her more deeply as a means of distraction. Her unpractised lips could barely keep up. She pulled her hand free from him and reached for the hem of his shirt, but instead of pulling it off she slipped her hands underneath it and continued kissing him. All her gestures were naively honest…like she didn't know how badly this could all go. Like she'd never had a man break her heart. Not the way he knew a heart could be broken. It was another warning shot that he heard only faintly over the rushing tide of lust, over the paralyzing beauty of her bare hands pressed to his chest, feeling his heart beat right in her palm. He was helpless…and afraid.

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St. Francis of Assisi Hospital was far enough away from the Capitol that Raven had to take a shuttle. Its spires reminded her of a Cathedral, not the stark glass and right angles that had been popular in industrial architecture for centuries. A statue of the Virgin Mary with downcast eyes and praying hands met her in the lobby as well as a woman in blue scrubs and a man in a suit.

"Minister Darkholm. I'm Steven Rosales, Chief of Medicine," said the man. "This is Braelyn Schneider, Mr. Averin's nurse."

"Hello Dr. Rosales, Ms. Schneider. Please, let's not waste any time meeting the patient."

They obediently turned and she followed them down a long pillared hallway, through an imposing set of metal doors, down another hallway, and finally to a room with a single man inside hooked up to IVs and sleeping.

"Is it alright if we wake him up?" Raven asked politely.

The nurse went over to his bed side and shook him gently. "Daniel," she said softly, "Someone's here to see you."

The man's eyes opened slowly with much effort, as if weighed down by something tremendous.

He was barely recognizable to her, gaunt and sunken-eyed as he was. But in the eyes it was still there, just a hint of Essex, just a hint of the thief.

"May I please have a moment with him alone?"

"Of course," said the doctor.

"Thank you." Raven replied and turned back to Daniel. She pulled a chair to the bedside and looked into his eyes. They focused on her. A good sign. When she heard the door click behind her she addressed him with a compassion she did not often show to anyone besides Anna and Kurt.

"Daniel." She said softly. "I'm sorry you are here. Like this." She paused and licked her lips. "I may be able to help you if you can help me."

She thought she saw the barest glint of curiosity in his eyes. He opened his mouth and she could again see the effort put into moving any muscle at all. "No one…can help me," he whispered.

"No…I can help you. But only if you talk to me."

"About…what?" The words seemed dragged into existence from far far away.

"About the time you spent working for Nathaniel Essex."

She thought she saw his body spasm just a bit, like he might have laughed. He closed his eyes and whispered, "Too tired." And he certainly looked it. She feared he was too far gone to bargain with.

"Listen, Daniel. This is very important. I know Essex pays your hospital bills and he will know if anyone removes you from the premises…but Dr. Rosales is signing your death certificate as we speak." His eyes opened, quicker this time and his brows almost furrowed. "You will come with me to my facility and be treated, and then we will talk. Essex will think you are dead. You will work for me."

He said nothing but the alarms on the monitors began to go off as his heart raced out of control. Raven went to the door and opened it. Dr. Rosales and the Nurse returned to detach him from the various devices and remove the IVs. The nurse put her hand on him as if to comfort him before toeing the locking device of the bed and wheeling him out into the hallway.

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Anna let the lukewarm water run over her just long enough to get clean and shut off the shower. She wrapped herself in a towel and as soon as she exited the small bathroom Remy went in. They had spent too long fooling around and now there was a bit of a sense of urgency. She trotted to the cockpit and assessed their approach. About five more minutes on autopilot. She hoped the Cajun made it fast because after they started their descent the gravity would be unpredictable.

She sat and braided her hair over her shoulder feeling a foreign absence of anxiety. She didn't want to think too much about it though. If she developed expectations she might be disappointed, but she knew they were there, bubbling up from the freshly disturbed silt of her mind.

Well, it was time. She flipped the AI off and took control of the helm. There was a subtle lurch and then Rogue began to fall belly first into the Mesosphere. There was always some turbulence at this point and she chuckled when she heard the sound of someone tripping over something and cursing past the bay behind her. Remy joined her shortly thereafter.

"Guess you weren't kidding when you said we had to hurry."

"Sorry, we've got a pretty short window to maneuver in before the airspace is accountable again."

He clearly had no idea what that meant but was making some guesses.

"So you know what we're doing when we land?"

"Yeah, there's transportation waiting for us." She pulled a pair of keys out of her pocket and dangled them in front of him. He took them reflexively and just in time. The turbulence was picking up as they sped through the clouds. Small jolts indicated the alternating of smaller boosters to compensate for the pull of the planets gravity, still the descent was so fast it made him just a little nauseous. The runway appeared, at fist just a grey scar down the middle of a field but it approached so quickly that he caught himself gripping the armrests of his chair. She could see it out of the side of her eyes and smiled again.

"You showing off Chere?"

"Maybe a little." She smiled and that seemed to reassure him. More so when they leveled out and slid onto the tarmac as frictionless as a swan landing on a lake. Then there was nothing but roar of the powerful breaking engines and the momentum of his body propelling him forward. At last they stopped.

"Nice landing."

"Oh, I can fly my friend." She shot back with obvious pride. In fact, flying was the only time he saw her completely confident and carefree.

She taxied them to her designated spot and they walked out of the side access door where an ambulance was waiting. Remy went to the driver's side and tapped the coordinates into his phone.

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Daniel was frightened but the fear felt detached. He had come to terms with his own death long ago and now hoped only for the absence of pain. Whatever was to happen to him, he prayed that his body was weak enough to give out as soon as possible and spare him any more suffering. There was a sweet apathy that came right at the threshold of death. A carelessness so comforting he yearned for it, but each time he felt it he was pulled back, either by fate or by medicine, into the world of the living. He cursed the Catholics and their worship of life.

The happy murals of flowers and playing children blurred past him as they pushed him down the hallway. Past the employee cafeteria, past the beautiful but ancient Chihouli water fountain, all the way out to the ambulance dock. There Remy waited and swung open the doors of the ambulance as they approached. Daniel locked wide eyes on him as he was pushed past and into the dark interior, heart beating fast enough he thought he might die, finally.

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Thank you for reading and please review.


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